A Smile from Her
by SpringSakura
Summary: How does the future look for the Furuba cast? There will be love, heart break, and a missing Yuki? Rate for safety. Yukiru Completed
1. The Start of Their Worries

I've decided to write another story because I have no idea what to do with my other story…I hope this one will be more exciting than the other one…so please…enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Baskets (Furuba)

Summary: (may contain some spoilers) Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo are on the verge of finishing High School, how does the future look for our Furuba cast? There will be love, heartbreak, and a missing Yuki?

Enjoy!

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Chapter One The Start of Their Worries

"This is so boring! Isn't there anything else that we can do?" Momiji wines for the umpteenth time of the day.

"Ahh! I'm sorry this is boring you Momiji-kun! What would you like to do?" Tohru said. It was her nature to try to make everyone happy.

"I don't know. But why do we have to spend the whole day inside?" Momiji replied. He didn't like making Tohru worry, but his hyper attitude didn't like to spend a beautiful Sunday morning cooped up inside.

Momiji, Haru, and Kagura had come to Shigure's house early in the morning, accompanied by Hatori, who had to talk with Shigure about something important. Or in other words, something that shouldn't be heard by the younger members of the family and Tohru.

"Why do we have to stay inside?" wined Momiji, yet again.

"Quit wining, you brat!" yelled Kyo who was tired to the complaining rabbit and hit him on the side of his head.

"Owwie! Tohru! Kyo hit me!" Momiji yelled to Tohru seeking her comfort.

"Ah! Please! Don't fight!" Tohru tried to clam Momiji down while also trying to keep Kyo from getting too angry.

"How can you say this is boring? I think the entertainment is quite amusing." Yuki said glancing at his two cousins.

"What did you say? You girly man?" Kyo shouted. Not only was he stuck inside, he was also: breaking his arm because Kagura refused to let go of him, hurting because of the various bruises cause by Kagura who only was so violent because of her love for her 'beloved' Kyo, stuck inside with a wining rabbit, an over violent boar, a monotone cow, an overly polite girl (not that Kyo minded Tohru's company, because Tohru's company was the only thing that's keeping him inside the house), but worst of all, Kyo was also stuck inside with his nemesis, the rat.

Yuki merely ignored the question and frowned, _what did Hatori have to say to that perverted author that was so important?_

Kyo however, wasn't satisfied with Yuki's non-response. "If you wanna fight, bring it on! I'll beat you one for all!"

"Shut up, you stupid cat." Yuki replied coolly.

"What did you say? Alright, that's it!" Kyo yelled standing up and going into a fighting stance, while at the same time, shrugging off Kagura.

"You wanna fight? Wonderful, I finally have the chance of beating you." Haru said menacingly with a flicker of movement behind his eyes.

"Great, now you've woken Black Haru." Kagura said looking at her two cousins. She decided to ignore them and followed Tohru and Momiji into the kitchen. The rabbit and the girl had gone off a minute earlier on the rabbit saying that he was hungry.

Yuki just signed and ignored the two as well.

"Who wants to fight you?" Kyo spat out, "We both know that I'll beat you."

"Oh yea? I'm not so sure about t-" but before Haru could finish his statement, Kyo had sent him flying out the door. Shigure's head popped inside the door, which had just been broken, yet again, by the numerous fights that always seem to occur inside his house.

"My beautiful house! Broken once again!" wailed Shigure as he inspected the door, not at all caring about the cow who was lying on the doorsteps.

"Ouch, what happened?" Haru said rubbing his head. He had obviously turned white.

"Oh! Sensei, Hari! Have you finished talking?" Momiji popped out of the kitchen with a cup of pudding.

"Yes, you can go out now if you want to." The doctor replied, knowing that the over energetic rabbit couldn't wait to go outside to play.

"Yay! Come one Tohru, Yuki, Kagura, Kyo! Let's go outside and catch stag beetles!" Momiji shouted grabbing Tohru's hand.

"Who asked you to make plans for me?" Kyo yelled giving Momiji a noogie before he went out the door.

Yuki lagged behind and looked at the dragon and the dog. He asked, "Is everything alright?"

The dragon doctor just nodded, and Yuki, knowing that he won't be getting any other answer, followed the others out.

"I'm worried about him." Hatori said.

"Yes, but I'm worried about the ones that his actions will have and impact on. But I can't say that it's unexpected." Shigure added.

The doctor nodded and went to sit on the sofa, the writer soon followed after one last look at the retreating figures of the teenagers that just went out the door. Time will tell…

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The Next Day…

"Did you guys see the announcement?" Momiji asked his cousins and friends at lunch the next day.

"Go away, I don't' want to deal with you right now." An annoyed Kyo answered. Everyone had left late yester day so he was still getting over his annoyance of Kagura.

"No, I haven't had the time to the announcements yet. What happened?" Tohru asked.

"They're giving a dance!" Momiji said excitedly.

"A dance?" Tohru exclaimed, eyes widening.

"Yep! It's going to be on Friday and it'll be so much fun! You will dance with me won't you Tohru?" Momiji asked making his puppy dog eyes at Tohru.

Tohru couldn't resist, and replied, "Of course I will!"

Momiji was about to hug Tohru out of excitement and happiness when Kyo held him back, "Hold it right there! Who said that we're going? Stop making plans for everyone!"

"Wah! Kyo's being mean to me! We're going! We're going! We have to go!" Momiji wined, yet again seeking the comfort of Tohru.

"And why is that?" Uotani asked, joining the conversation for the first time. She didn't mind going to the dance, but didn't like the idea of being forced to go.

"Because it's Yuki's dance! We have to go." Momiji answered, back to his happy, hyper mood.

Everyone turned to stare at Yuki, who sighed, "It wasn't my idea. The fan club seem to be getting out of hand and came up with the idea of doing a dance for the end of the year activity. They said that it's going to be a dance in honor of the new student body president, Machi Kuragi. But they also threw in my name, saying it was a goodbye dance for me."

"Wow, that's so cool! We'll have to go then!" Tohru said smiling at Yuki. "Of course we'll go there to support you Yuki-kun!"

Once Tohru had decided, the Sohma's and her friends were happy to go. Yuki, however, was still more hesitant, "I don't want to go." He said childishly.

"But it's you're dance, Yuki. You have to go!" Momiji said.

"Yea, prince. The girls will be bawling if you didn't go to your dance." Uotani joked.

Yuki just shrugged and changed the subject.

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Chapter one done! Upcoming dance…dun dun dun! Tell me what you think!


	2. An Explanation

Here's the second chapter! They know about the dance…what will happen now?

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

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Chapter Two An Explanation

After finding out about the upcoming dance in the morning, the Prince Yuki fan club has been trying to get their beloved Prince to take them to the dance. However, Yuki had no such plans, in fact, he was planning on not going. But he wanted Tohru to be happy, and knowing Tohru, she didn't want to fan club's efforts to go to waste, even if they were mean to her for 'bewitching' their beloved Prince.

After the last school bell rang, Yuki muttered a "finally" and walked to find Tohru and his cousins.

"You dumb rabbit! Why did you have to go and tell us about the dance? How in the world are we going to go to it?" Kyo yelled at Momiji wile hitting the rabbit on the head.

"Wah! Tohru, help! Kyo is being so mean to me! He's hitting me!" Momiji tried to call for help, but only earned himself another punch from Kyo.

"Kyo-kun! Please stop hitting Momiji-kun!" Tohru tried to stop Kyo's fist.

"Why can't we go to the dance Kyo?" Momiji asked confidently behind Tohru.

It was Yuki who answered, "Because we might bump into someone and transform. Honestly, Momiji, did you even think about that?"

Tohru realized her mistake and started to apologize profusely.

"It alright, Tohru, the brat should've thought about that before bringing it up." Kyo defended Tohru.

Yuki looked at Kyo and frowned, he knew that Kyo was beginning to care more and more about Tohru over the years, the question was, why should he feel weird when Tohru smiled at Kyo. No way he was jealous of the _cat_.

Momiji thought thoughtfully for a moment, and then yelled happily, "No worries! We'll be fine!"

"What do you mean by that?" Kyo yelled back, but didn't hit the rabbit who was still hiding behind Tohru.

"Because Hari ahs the solution, that was what he was talking to sensei about!" Momiji's mouth was suddenly clamped shut by Haru who said his usual voice, "We weren't suppose to tell them that Momiji."

"Tell us what?" Yuki asked. He knew that something was going on that was being kept from him.

"Oh nothing…" Momiji tried to hide the fact that he let anything slip but failed miserably.

"Tell, you brat!" Kyo shouted getting ready to hit Momiji again, not caring whether or not he was hiding behind Tohru.

"You could just go home and ask sensei. We aren't suppose to know, but Momiji did a little snooping and Hatori told us not to tell you." Haru replied for the rabbit.

Yuki, Tohru, and Kyo were confused; they said no more of the subject and hurried home to ask Shigure about what was going on.

"Shigure, what's going on?" Yuki asked as he walked into the door. Noticing a pair of boots by the door, he asked, "Do we have a gue-" he stopped in his tracks, as he saw no other than his brother sitting in the living room.

"My darling brother! I am so jealous, you talk to Shigure and not even a hello to me." Ayame said with his hands over his heard feigning hurt.

He walked up to Yuki and tried to hug his brother, however, Yuki had other plans for his brother. Just as he was about to kick his brother away, Shigure piped up and said, "Now, now Yuki-kun, is that any way to treat your brother?"

Yuki, seeing an opportunity, said, "I won't kick him _this_ time if you tell me what's going on."

"Whatever do you mean?" asked Shigure innocently.

"You know very well what it means so tell!" Kyo came inside and yelled at the dog.

Shigure smiled and looked puzzled at Ayame, "I have no idea what they're talking about, do you Aya?" Shigure said smiling at his best friend with that usual silly smile of his.

"No idea, no idea at all 'Gure." Aya replied smiling back.

"All right!" both adults yelled with their thumbs up. (**a/n** so sry! Probably the worst 'all right' moment ever, but I couldn't think of anything else)

The teenager stood at the door to the living room, thinking: _What's 'all right'?_ Yuki and Kyo tried to fight the urge to smack both men's heads with their fists, but they needed answers, and hitting them won't help get answers…or maybe it will.

Kyo was the first to act, "Tell or prepared to feel pain. And destruction to your house." Kyo added knowing that Shigure couldn't stand any more injury to his house, or rather; the house wouldn't be able to stand if it received another injury.

"Now, know, Kyonkichi (**a/n **Is that how it's spelled?), threatening your elders is impolite, and threatening us won't help you get answers." Ayame said reprimanding Kyo who was trying to cool his temper but having a horrible time.

But Shigure yelled, "No! My beautiful house!" He faked sobbing and Ayame ran up to him muttering things like "I'll comfort you my dearest 'Gure" or "I won't let them hurt your house while I'm here."

Yuki and Kyo fought and fought to not burst at the two men. But one could only hold in so much.

"Tell me what's going on right now!" Yuki yelled at his brother and cousin.

Ayame looked over at his brother and replied, serious for once. And replied in a serious tone, "Who let it slip?"

Kyo answered, "That little hyper rabbit let it slip that something was going on. He was hollering how he wanted to go to the dance and said that it wouldn't matter if we bumped into someone."

"I suppose we might as well tell theme Aya, they might beat us to death and in the process destroy my precious house!" exclaimed Shigure.

"Ok, but you guys can't mention it out of this house, understand?"

"What's going on?" Yuki asked, he was getting tired of the numerous secrets inside the Sohma family.

"We've found a way…a way to stop the transformation." Shigure answered plainly as if he was saying his name.

The three teenagers gaped at him. They were struck speechless.

Tohru spoke first, "That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you guys."

"H…how? When? What?" Yuki stuttered.

"We've found a way to stop the transformation. Or at least we think so." Ayame repeated Shigure's words.

Kyo finally regained his speech and asked, "How?"

"We're not sure, at least not yet. We haven't exactly tested the product. The first batch will be available on Friday." Ayame replied.

"This is perfect! They can try out our product first!" Shigure said excitedly.

"Wait a minute! We're not testing items!" Kyo yelled smacking the dog.

"It'll be the only way to find out it if works." Shigure groaned from the floor.

"What if it doesn't work?" Yuki asked.

"Then Hatori will have to go to work." Ayame replied solemnly.

Yuki walked out of the room and out the back door. Kyo was still slightly flabbergasted. Tohru didn't really know what to say, which was rare.

"I think, I think this is a great opportunity. And we should open ever door that opportunity knocks on right? We could at least just try. This is probably that the zodiac has come to breaking the curse." Tohru smiled encouragingly.

The older men smiled at the wise, young girl who had earned a permanent loving place in all the Sohma's hearts. Kyo grinned slightly and walked upstairs. Tohru understood that her two friends probably needed sometime alone right now, so she hurried to the kitchen to start dinner, leaving the two older men in the living room.

Shigure observed Ayame for a moment and said, "He might as well have a little fun before his meeting with him."

Ayame nodded solemnly and his thoughts once again wondered off to his brother.

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Second chapter done! Review please!


	3. The Horrors of a Fan Club

I really want to finish this story before school starts…so here's the third chapter! It has two parts but I thought that the first part was necessary ;-) Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

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Chapter 3 The Horrors of a Fan Club

But first…Part I A Talk with Yuki and Kyo

After finishing one part of dinner, Tohru realized that she needed some vegetables from Yuki's garden. So decided to go out and help Yuki with his secret base, since he was probably just sitting on a nearby rock staring into space. Looking around the clearing where the base was located, Tohru discovered that she was right. She walked up to Yuki and sat down besides him.

Yuki was the first to speak out, he knew that it was Tohru (since she was the only that knew about his base besides him.) and didn't look up. "It's unbelievable."

Tohru smiled slightly and replied, "But it was always a possibility wasn't it? I never gave up hope that someday the curse will be broken."

Yuki looked up at Tohru and smiled gently, "Yes, I suppose I gave up too soon. I never imagined such a possibility. The torments of Akito had sealed off my heart. I never opened it up again. The closed lid remained closed and all possibility of opening it was out of question." _Until you came along that it and I began to venture to open it again._ Yuki thought but didn't dare speak it out loud.

Tohru was slightly taken back by what Yuki said because she never expected him to open up to her like this. Her smile went even wider and replied; "It won't be closed forever, because there will always be someone out there who could open your heart. And a smile from whomever that it will the brightest sunshine that you ever felt. So don't close off all hope, because the world is full of opportunities. You can't run or hide from them." After saying the last statement, Tohru gently put her hand over Yuki's.

Yuki looked at the gesture and smiled his own smile, "Yes. That's true. I still can't believe that there is someway to stop the transformation. It seems as if the curse is finally breaking up. When I was little, Akito used to always say that the zodiac members would forever be his. He is our ruler and we are nothing without him. He said that we would never be able to live our own lives because we will never be accepted into the world and he was the only one that bothers with us. I was small then, so the world still looked bright. I tried to disobey and argue, but when my parents sold me for a tool, I lost hope. My family and friends rejected me; the pain that caused me deepened with every stroke that Akito sprung upon me. I lost my friends, I lost my family, and I was never accepted into the world. And I'm disgusted by my curse. I didn't have anything left."

Tohru had tears glistening in her eyes. She could never have imagined the torments that the zodiac members suffered through. She always had her family and friends, yes, there was sadness in her life, but it could never compare to the sufferings of Yuki and the other Sohma's. But Tohru also smiled a little and squeezed Yuki's hand, "But you survived, you've found the courage to tell me these things, you've found the courage to open the lid that you've kept on your emotions. So now is the chance to take a step forward and rejoice. The things of the past are not worth the pain, the suffering, so stop thinking about them. The future looks bright, so why not live it?"

Yuki looked up with a smile and realized the tears that were nearly spilling out of Tohru's eye, he quickly took his other hand and wiped them away, he smiled and gently kissed Tohru's cheek. Tohru blushed bright red and didn't know what to say.

Smiling, Yuki said, "Thank you Hon- Tohru. Thank you for accepting us, the burden of the us."

Flustered, Tohru said, "No! Not at all! You guys aren't a burden. I'm the one that's been thrust-" But Yuki cut her off by putting a finger to her lips.

"It is because of you that we are a family again. So thank you. You aren't a burden, you've helped up more than you know." Yuki said smiling.

Tohru suddenly remember something and quickly jumped into the air, "Oh! I just remembered, could I have some vegetables for dinner?"

"Of course. But you can go inside, I can pick them myself."

Tohru smiled again and began walking towards the house. She replayed the events that had just occurred. She blushed as she felt the place where Yuki had kissed her, it was probably just out of gratitude, Tohru smiled at the thought that she's been able to help Yuki. She looked up and saw Kyo sitting on the roof. Kyo saw her and motioned her to come up. Tohru smiled and nodded.

"Are you alright?" Tohru asked once she was on the roof.

"I'm fine. It's just that…it's so unreal." Kyo replied.

Tohru smiled at the similarity of Kyo and Yuki's replies, why can't they understand that they really are similar and their only conflict is that the other has what they dream of.

Kyo continued, "I'll finally be free from this curse. They probably don't understand it, but this curse has been the biggest burden to me." Kyo said playing with the black and white beads that were around his left wrist.

Tohru looked at the bead and realized that Kyo's curse went farther than the zodiac curse, he was also curse with the vengeful spirit of the cat, a much more dangerous form that Tohru had learn to accept. She did the same as she did with Yuki, and put her hand around Kyo's.

"Embrace the fact, because there will always be endless possibilities. It's like food, if you don't eat it, it will go to waste." Tohru said looking at the sunset.

"Where do you get these things?" Kyo said but he had a smile on his face.

Tohru looked frantic, and apologized profusely.

Kyo smiled and knocked her on her head and said, "Stop apologizing." After a moment of silence, he added, "I just never thought that I would be able to live normally. I wasn't accepted into the Sohma family, that was my one wish. And my other form stopped me from wanting to socialize with the normal world. I was secluded into my own little world. I'll never understand why Kagura likes me (although I probably be much better off is she didn't), I'm a monster." Kyo finished with a hint of sad ness in his voice.

"No you're not!" Tohru shouted.

"You don't have to yell it." Kyo said rubbing his ears.

"I'm sorry!" Tohru shouted again while Kyo grimaced. She continued, "There will always be people who are better than you, but there will also always be people worse than you. Because time doesn't still, everything changes in due time. There will never be a best or a worst. There won't ever be a best or worst style of fighting because different people has different opinions." Tohru said trying to find an example that suited Kyo.

Kyo smiled again and shrugged and said, "I still don't like the idea of being test animals. The perverted dog and huge-ego snake had better not do anything weird with the product, whatever it is."

"I'm sure Hatori won't let them."

And together, they watched the setting sun. After the sunset, Tohru jumped up again, "Oh no! I have to go make dinner!"

Kyo smiled and said, "Thanks Tohru, for understanding me." He said as he kissed Tohru's forehead.

Unknown to the two, Yuki had just walked out of the forest with his vegetables and saw the two on the rooftop, his jaw dropped and he felt more pain than he had ever felt. Did he like Tohru? No! She was like the mother that he never had…but…she was always so understand, always there, always ready with a smile, a smile that filled him with warmth; it was time to face reality, Yuki liked Tohru. Yuki walked into the house trying to stop the turmoil that had risen in his heart.

While still on the rooftop, Tohru, not knowing what to say, stayed silent.

"Um…could…uh…I ask you something?" Kyo asked.

Tohru had never seen Kyo stuttering this badly. "Sure."

"Would you go to the dance with me?" Kyo asked, not knowing that he could talk that fast.

Tohru blushed a deeper shade of red, and she couldn't speak, she just nodded.

Kyo smiled and the two stood awkwardly for a moment, then Tohru remember dinner again and was once again frantic. She hurried downstairs while Kyo stayed on the roof a little longer. Dinner went without much excitement, Yuki was unusually silent and the mood within the room was tense. But other than that, the night went by peacefully.

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Part II The Horrors of a Fan Club

The next day at school, Momiji once again brought up the subject of the dance at lunchtime. Today, he was asking who was going with whom.

To this Yuki replied, "No one." He was still unsure of his feelings toward Tohru, all he knew was that seeing Kyo kiss Tohru was upsetting to him.

"But Yuki! You have to bring someone! It's your dance." Momiji wined.

Yuki just shrugged while Uotani said, "Come on Prince! The whole school would love to go with you. Even orange head here had got a date."

Yuki raised an eyebrow and was puzzled.

"Oh my…you don't know? I thought that since you live in the same house, you would've known." Hanajima said in her usual monotone.

A look of understanding flashed across Yuki's face, Kyo was going with Tohru. _Why does it hurt me so?_ Yuki questioned himself.

Kyo, on the other hand, was flustered and wanted to beat up someone really bad for talking about him and Tohru. Tohru was trying to calm Kyo and Uo down. Momiji was jumping around the group singing. And Haru was just sitting there observing Yuki.

Yuki saw Haru staring at him and just shook his head. An understanding passed between them and Haru looked concerned for a second, but shrugged.

That afternoon, Tohru, Yuki and Kyo were greeted with an unbelievable sight, Momiji dragging Haru behind him running. "Hurry! Run!"

"What in the world is going on?" Kyo shouted clearly annoyed.

Momiji ran up to them dragging Haru, who went black but was being restrained by the rabbit. Momiji quickly explained, "It started after I closed my locker, there were these girls around me asking me to go to the dance, this was no surprise to Yuki or Kyo, who had their share of girls asking them (to which none of them they accepted). Momiji continued, "But the girls just kept on piling up and up and I thought I would never get away until Haru dragged me away."

"Hey Yuki! Isn't that your fan club?" Haru asked casually pointing to a group of girls that was coming towards them. The group looked frightening enough, there was so many that it was starting to look like a dust cloud from afar. They seem to be getting closer and closer, and the group finally realized that the girls were running towards them, yelling "Sohma-senpai, will you go to the dance with me?" Yuki eyes grew as wide and he started to walk backwards.

"I think we…um…should probably get out of here." Tohru said.

"RUN!" Momiji yelled.

The group ran for their safety. Haru, Yuki, and Kyo were all very fast because of their martial arts training, and Momiji help Tohru a little to run faster. They ran in the direction of Shigure's house hoping for a sanctuary.

Shigure on the other hand, was in Hatori's car, they had just come back to pick up an ingredient for the item that stopped the transformation. Hatori looked out the window and frowned, he asked, "What is that?"

It was indeed a puzzling sight, five teenagers running for their lives followed by a dust cloud.

"Why are they being followed by a dust cloud?" Shigure voiced his own question. Upon closer inspection, Shigure realized that it wasn't a dust cloud, but a group of girls. He laughed to himself and said, "High School girls!"

"Idiot." Muttered Hatori.

Momiji was the first to recognize Hatori's car and screamed, "Hari! Open the doors!"

Hatori open the doors just as the teens approached the car, everyone piled in and Yuki said, "Drive!" as the girls were getting closer and closer.

The car sped off and the girl stopped chasing, still yelling "Wait!" "Stop!" "Prince Yuki, will you go to the dance with me?" etc.

"That was scary." Haru said calmly.

"Scary! It was more horrifying!" Momiji wined and hugged Tohru tightly, causing him to turn into a rabbit.

"What happened?" Hatori asked.

After explaining the 'incident', Shigure started laughing uncontrollably, earning himself two punched on the head from Yuki and Kyo.

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What do you think? Review please! Thanks to those who reviewed! Hope you like this chapter…longest chapter that I've written so please enjoy!


	4. The Dance

Here's the next chapter. Trying to finish this story before school starts' tell me what you think ;-)

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

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Chapter Four The Dance

"Seriously, Yuki. You have to go with someone." Haru said to Yuki once they had clamed down inside the car.

"Why?" Yuki asked unconcerned. The person that he had wanted to take was already taken.

"Because it's your dance. They're going to make you dance. And if you don't take someone, you're probably going to be stuck with the fan girls for the whole evening." Haru said.

"What's this? Yuki's dance?" Shigure said from the front seat, "Why did no one tell me that it was Yuki's dance? I'll have to call Aya up and tell him. Yuki, could you give us some tickets?"

Yuki glared at Shigure and replied to Haru's comment with, "I don't care. They can go and give me a dance, they can't make me dance." But he sounded unsure, those crazy fan girls could do a lot of things.

"Why don't you take Machi?" Haru asked, "Didn't you like her?"

At this comment, Tohru, who was sitting next to Yuki, stiffened. She didn't understand why. She didn't like Yuki, did she? Yuki had always been a protector, a person that reached out to her. But lately, she's always been getting more flustered and clumsy when she's around him, especially after the talk in the secret base.

Yuki looked at Haru and raised his eyebrows, "What makes you say that? We're just on the student council together."

Haru shrugged, working out a plan in his head. Yuki needed a date…but whom? _Yes, it's brilliant. She can go with Yuki!_

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Friday approached and that afternoon, Hatori, Ayame, Haru, and Momiji all were gathered at Shigure's house. The house was chaotic, when it finally calmed down, the three eldest members of the zodiac started to explain the item that forced off transformation.

"It's a tea?" Kyo asked.

Hatori nodded and said, "Yes, I was traveling to find a new medicine for Akito since he's been growing steadily worse and found this ingredient. It forces things to stay the same; it appears in most perennials. However, this long will not wade off the transformation. So we've been trying to gather different ingredients that also worked in the same way. We believe that it will work, but for a short amount of time, only an hour."

Yuki looked at the three elders quizzically, "And Akito?"

The three looked at each other and understood Yuki's question perfectly. The young gray haired boy really was smart.

"He knows that this product exists. But he doesn't know that we've obtained it." Hatori answered solemnly.

"Listen, this only lasts for a short while and we're not sure that it works, so try your best not to hug anyone. We're only giving it to you for safety measures. It's important that you don't abuse the product, because Akito knows almost everything." Ayame warned serious for once.

"Enough warnings. I think they can fend for themselves. Let's get going!" Shigure said putting a bright mood on everything, "Here, drink!" He ordered.

Shigure held a tray with teacups on it. The liquid within the cups looked innocently enough.

"You guys didn't do anything weird to them did you?" Kyo asked skeptically. He didn't trust the snake or the dog.

"Kyo! How could you think of such a thing? I'm so hurt!" Ayame said.

"Speaking of weird. I may have accidentally dropped something inside. But Aya, you have the cure don't you?" joked Shigure.

"Sorry, Gure. But I didn't bring it." Aya joked back.

"Why! You two-" Kyo shout advancing on the two adults when Hatori spoke out, "That's enough. Like I said, we don't know the effects of it, because different members might react differently to it. But it's not harmful."

The teens took the cups and drank, gagging at the horrible taste. Kyo yelled, "What in the world is this!" before walking towards the snake and the dog with a menacing look. Tohru calmed him down as Momiji took a quick test trial. And sure enough, Momiji still stood. Momiji was so happy and excited that he clung to Tohru. The time was 7:00 Pm.

"We better get going or we'll be late." Ayame said standing up.

Yuki looked up puzzled and repeated, "We?"

"Didn't you know my darling brother?" Ayame said looking surprised, "Gure, Tori, and I have decided to chaperone the dance. Now, now, you can take us later." Ayame added when he saw Yuki getting ready to explode.

But Yuki had enough and just shook his head.

"Let's go." Hatori said, "Tohru, Kyo, you two ride with Shigure and Ayame."

"Why do I have to be stuck with those two!" Kyo asked.

"Because you have a date, my dear Kyonkichi!" Ayame replied, "Although I thought that Yuki-" He was cut short by a punch on the head from his brother.

Tohru blushed at the mention of date and Yuki just walked out of the room. Shigure hurried everyone, "Let's go, let's go! The sooner we go, the sooner high school girls for me!" Kyo punched the writer and walked out, followed by everyone.

"Gure! Are you cheating on me?" Ayame asked with a hurt voice.

"I would never do that Aya!" Shigure replied smiling at Ayame.

"Come on, you two." Hatori called from the door.

Once they were all in their respectable cars, Hatori driving behind Ayame and Shigure, Hatori warned the three teens riding with him, "You three need to be careful. Kyo's going with Tohru, so we're not worried about him. But you three, especially Momiji, don't get too excited and start hugging everyone."

"I won't" Momiji answered, he was slightly put down by not being able to be in the same car as Tohru. Although, he wasn't missing much, just Ayame and Shigure annoying Kyo to the very verge of explosion. Yuki was quiet of the whole ride, the constant mentioning of Kyo and Tohru pained him more and more. He liked Tohru, but he's also a good fighter, and a good fighter admits defeats gallantly.

They reached the school, and Ayame, Shigure, Tohru, and a very annoyed Kyo walked in first. Soon followed by the other group. Hatori walked in first, followed by Yuki, and at his sides, Momiji and Haru. When Yuki and his cousins entered the room, everyone went silent. They girls couldn't wait to see their beloved prince. Yuki didn't disappoint them, walking in with Momiji and Haru at his sides made him even more dashing than ever. The girls swarmed around the group, but Yuki wasn't interested in their efforts to make him dance with them. He walked off with his cousins and found Tohru, Uotani, Hana, Kyo, and…Kagura.

Yuki was surprised, "Kagura? What are you doing here?"

Kagura smiled and said, "Hi Yun-chan! I'm your date! Haru called me up."

Yuki glared at Haru who just shrugged and told Yuki what happened.

Flashback

"_Hey Kagura-nii." Haru said._

"_What's up Haru? Are you here to see Rin? Because she just walked out." Kagura said._

"_No, I'm here to ask you to go to the dance at our school with Yuki."_

"_Yun-chan? Why doesn't he just go with Tohru?"_

"_Because Tohru's going with Kyo."_

"_I don't think I should go…"_

"_You would at least be able to dance with Kyo."_

"_Dance with Kyo? All right! I'll go!" Kagura said as a gleam came to her eyes, "I'm so happy!" she screamed as she proceeded to pound Haru._

Flashback

"That hurt." Haru commented casually.

Kagura smiled and murmured a quick 'sorry'.

Suddenly a voice filled the room, "Let's start the evening with our guest of honors! Please welcome Machi Kugari and Yuki Sohma-" the announcer stopped for a minute for all the cheers to quiet down, "to the dance floor!"

Yuki rolled his eyes and had a sour expression on his face, Kagura was frowning, she hadn't expected his cousin to be this popular. "Well, Yun-chan?"

"I suppose I have no choice." Yuki replied and held out his hand to Kagura, who took it and dragged Yuki to the dance floor, where some other couples had assembled.

The music started, it was a slow dance, and Kagura asked, "Um, Yun-chan, why are all those girls glaring at me?"

"They're my fan club." Yuki replied.

"Ha!" Kagura laughed, "I've never had girls jealous of me before."

Yuki was looking at where Kyo and Tohru were dancing. Kagura looked up and said, "You like her don't you?"

Yuki replied with a question, "You like him don't you?"

"Yes, but-" Kagura started.

"So why did you let him go?"

"Because look at how happy he is." Kagura answered with moist eyes, "I'll never be able to make him that happy.

Yuki looked over at Kyo and Tohru and briefly met Tohru's eyes for a moment. He saw something in them, what was it?

"But you love him. It was your dream to marry him." Yuki said.

"Yes," Kagura replied sadly, "But Tohru's such a sweet girl. She's such a great friend. I don't regret losing Kyo to her, because that's what love is about. It's about seeing the person you love happy, even if the person that they find happiness in isn't yourself."

Yuki looked over at Kyo and Tohru, he had never seen his cousin with that goofy smile. True, he wanted to punch Kyo for taking Tohru, but Tohru was also smiling, and Yuki knew that he would do anything to keep that smile on her face. The song had ended by this time and Yuki let Kagura go.

"Thanks, Kagura." Yuki said as he gently kissed his cousin's hand like a gentleman. Kagura smiled at the gesture, she knew that she'll never be with Yuki, his heart forever belonged to Tohru, and her heart forever belonged to Kyo.

Across the dance floor, Tohru's heart sank. She liked Yuki; she had come to that realization the moment she saw Yuki dancing with Kagura. She knew that there could never be anything between them, but watching Yuki kiss Kagura's hand pained her greatly. The fan girls were also staring at their prince dancing with this strange girl; they were already forming plans to break up the couple.

After sitting and talking for a while, the group of teenagers was ready to dance again. Kagura got upa nd walked over to Kyo and asked sweetly, "Will you dance with me Kyo?"

"No way!" Kyo answered bluntly.

"What did you say?" Kagura asked with the same gleam in her eyes, but by this time, she had Kyo in a grip so tight the Kyo couldn't breath.

Kyo struggled to get out and just gasped, "Alright…I…I'll dance with you!"

"Yay!" Kagura immediately let go and dragged Kyo to the dance floor. The fan girls were going wild about this. Not only that this mysterious girl taken their beloved prince, she's also taken Kyo!

Yuki walked up to Tohru and bowed, asking, "Would you do me the honor of dancing with me?" with a hand stretched out.

Tohru blushed and said, "I would love to."

They walked to the dance floor and began dancing to the music. Tohru was smiling brightly and looked up at Yuki; Yuki was also staring into her eyes, they both smiled even bigger and were lost in their own world. Yuki hugged Tohru close as the music slowed down to a slow song. The clock in the background rung eight times, it was 8:00. But Yuki and Tohru still hugged each other, lost in their own world. The other members of their party took no notice of the two seeing as to how they were each having their own fun, or in Kyo's case, being mauled by Kagura. Everyone danced that night, even Hatori who danced with Mayuko. The group had a great time at the dance, because for the first time, they could be normal.

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Fourth chapter finished! Yay! What do you think? Review please!


	5. Consequences of being more than Friends

Hello everyone!

So glad that you're enjoying the story! Please Review!

Here's the next chapter, Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

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Chapter 5 The Consequences of being more than Friends

Momiji walked into Shigure's house, along with Haru.

"Where is everybody?" Momiji asked after searching the house.

Shigure pooped into the room and said, "My beautiful flower is out grocery shopping and Yuki went with her. Kyo's at the dojo."

"UWA! No one's here!" Momiji wined.

"They'll come back soon." Haru said bored.

True to his word, at that moment, Tohru and Yuki came through the front door. Tohru was saying something and Yuki chuckled slightly to the comment. Momiji was about to run out and hug Tohru when Haru pulled him back, motioning for the rabbit to quiet down. He then peeked through the opening in the door and spied on Tohru and Yuki.

Yuki was smiling at Tohru and Tohru was smiling back. It seems as if they were having a good time just looking at each other.

"Haru! What are you doing?" Momiji asked his cousin, "Oh! Are you spying on Tohru and Yuki?" Momiji said the last part a little too loud for Haru's comfort.

The two standing in front of the door heard it and turned their gaze to the door where Haru was peeking out a moment ago. Yuki fumed and walked toward the door and kicked it open to find Haru glaring at Momiji.

"UWA! Haru's being scary!" Momiji cried running to Tohru for comfort. He puffed in Tohru's arms and snuggled against her.

"Momiji-kun!" Tohru exclaimed surprised.

"You can stop hugging her now." Yuki said glaring at Momiji, then he said to Haru, "And what's this about spying on us?"

"Yuki is so unfair, you just want to keep Tohru to yourself!" Momiji said in rabbit form sticking out a tongue at Yuki.

"What?" Yuki was flustered, "No, that's not I-" Yuki was unable to finish because the writer popped up again and commented, "Speaking of which, you have been spending a lot of time with Tohru-kun since the dance, Yuki-kun."

Shigure's comment resulted in a bump on his head. Yuki stalked off to his base and Tohru just looked puzzled.

It was true what they were saying, Yuki and Tohru has been spending some time together. It started after the day after the dance when Kagura had suggested that she, Haru, Momiji, Kyo, Yuki and Tohru should hang out together with Tohru's friends since she hasn't met Uo or Hana. Kyo took some convincing since he didn't want to spend the day with an ex-yankee, a telepathic wave girl and an over violent boar, but he relented after learning that Tohru will be there.

They had a grand time, shopping (much to Yuki and Kyo's distaste), eating, enjoying themselves to their fullest. The day went perfectly, along with an accident meeting with Kureno. No introductions were needed and both Uo and Kureno were surprised. Kureno couldn't believe that Uo was the best friend of the girl that His cousins always hang around, and Uo could believe that Kureno was a Sohma. Her thoughts were that her life seems to always revolve around the Sohma's.

So they spent the whole day together. Since school ended the following week, the group decided to start the summer with a day's outing. They had a great time picking fruit at a nearby orchard and swimming at a lake, where Yuki rescued Tohru after she tried to block her friends' views of Momiji transforming. Tohru had been able to block Uo and Hana's views by jumping in the lake. After not swimming for so long, Tohru had forgotten how to, so Yuki jumped in and saved her, much to Kyo's dismay. Other than that incident, the day went by perfectly.

What can he say? Yuki liked Tohru, and enjoyed spending so much time with her. His only concern, no, his two concerns were a stupid orange headed cat and the menacing family head. Speaking of which…

When Yuki came back to Shigure's house after working on the base, his brother, who was looking serious and solemn for once, greeted him.

Yuki was puzzled, Ayame never looked serious, something happened.

Ayame turned his head toward Yuki's direction and tried to smile, but his mouth failed him. He looked helplessly to Shigure who just shook his head.

"What's going on?" Yuki demanded.

"Akito-" Shigure stopped as Yuki took a sharp breath in, the dog knew that lavender-eyed boy's fear of the family head, but he didn't dare disobey him, "he…he has requested, that…you go see him at the Main House."

Yuki almost lost his balance; he felt that his legs were about to out below him, _Akito? Main House? What did he want this time?_

Ayame didn't say anything and looked even more saddened. His brother reaction hadn't done anything to comfort him. He didn't want Yuki to be hurt again, not after everything. He had always wanted to close the rift between them, but what was Akito going to do?

"When?" Yuki mumbled his question.

"Today." Shigure said frowning.

"Hatori's coming to pick you up." Ayame said for the first time, he looked out the window.

Yuki closed his eyes for a second and nodded. Hatori walked in a minute later.

He looked questionably at Yuki and asked, "Ready?"

"I've never been read to meet him." Yuki replied, "But don't tell anyone that I went to see him." Yuki said to his brother and cousin.

They both nodded and Ayame spoke up, "Whatever he does, we'll be here."

Yuki was surprised, he never expected his brother to say anything comforting to him. He nodded and followed Yuki out.

"What does he want?" Yuki asked once he was in Hatori's car.

"What he always wants, control." Hatori replied.

Yuki just stared at the window, trying his best to prepare himself for whatever Akito was about to do to him. But this meeting didn't at all seem that intimidating. His brother had said (not that Yuki would ever admit that he listened to Ayame), his family will be there for him, not just his family, but Tohru. Tohru's face flashed in Yuki's mind, that smile that made his day. Yuki will be able to face the family head, he will. He had grown; he was no longer the scared little boy who couldn't bear to hear the name Akito.

They reached the Main House and got out of the car. Just as Yuki was about to walk off to Akito's section of the house, Hatori held him back and said, "Be careful. I don't' think Ayame, or anyone for that matter, would forgive me if something happened."

Yuki said, "What can anyone do to stop it?" he asked bitterly, but continued, "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Hatori nodded. A meeting with the Sohma head was scary for any member of the family. Yuki especially, they never understood Akito's obsession with Yuki.

Yuki walked into the cold, dark, damp room. Everything about this room gave the idea of a haunted house. Everything, especially the person who sat by the window, who was looking out with a sour face, a face with contempt for the world. This was the head of the Sohma family, Akito. Yuki felt his legs tremble, _No! I can't show my fear. He'll just use it to my advantage._

Akito sensed Yuki's presence and turned around. Smiling a malicious smile, he asked with pure venom, "Welcome Yuki. Long time no see, how come you never visit me anymore?"

"W…what do you want?" Yuki asked somewhat shaking.

"Still scared of me I see." Akito said smiling.

Yuki remained silent, so Akito went on, "Can't I call a member of the zodiac to visit?"

Yuki clenched his fists, Akito was playing with him, well, he wasn't going to let the head win, Yuki said through gritted teeth, "What do you want?"

Akito smiled and walked up to Yuki, "Simple, I want you to cut all connections with that Honda girl." Akito said as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world.

Yuki was bewildered, why was Akito asking this? Why now? He had allowed Tohru to stay at Shigure's. He had allowed her to keep her memories. So why now? And why Yuki?

Akito smiled again, a smile that sent shivers down Yuki's spine, Yuki said, "Why?"

Akito smile turned. He's face grew angry, he yelled, "You dare to define me!"

Yuki flinched; he hadn't intended to anger Akito. He knew that he should just play good and obey Akito, but he couldn't. Something won't let him. Tohru was too important to him. She was more than a friend; Yuki loved her.

Yuki whispered, "And if I do?"

Akito seethed in anger, his eyes grew even more cold that it felt like 50 degrees below zero in the room even though the sun was blaring outside. Akito screeched, "How dare you? How dare you define me?" after a moment of silence, Akito continued, much more calmly, "I order you to cease all connection with her."

Yuki just said defiantly, "No."

Akito eyes turned colder (if that's possible) and an evil smile came upon his face, "What is so important about this girl Yuki? She's just a lowly, poor, ordinary girl. She has no good connections, no proper manners, she's nothing."

Yuki grew angry, he knew that if he said it, he would be in huge trouble, but he had to defend Tohru, "She isn't nothing! She's more than you will ever be! She's more wonderful than anything and I love her!" Yuki screamed. He hadn't expected the last part to burst out of him. But he felt glad that he was finally able to say it. Only now, he awaited his punishment.

And it came, a slap across his face. It stung, but Yuki didn't allow himself to wince. He had suffered worse. He had suffered much worse at the hands of Akito.

"How dare you? How dare you say such a thing?" Akito asked swimming in anger, "Do you think she'll ever even consider you? You're disgusting! You were the only one that really wanted to be in the zodiac. You even lied and tricked your way in. You don't belong."

At this statement, Yuki was affected. He didn't allow emotion to show on his face, but inside, his heart cried out, _where do I belong?_ Yuki realized that he shouldn't have allowed himself to show emotions; he should've remained cold. Showing his emotions had resulted in pain. Yuki was in turmoil, Akito was right; he had lied to the cat, played the cow, and tricked his way in. He wasn't supposed to be in the zodiac. _But I never wanted to be part of the zodiac!_ His heart cried out.

Akito smiled to himself, he knew that his words had an effect on Yuki; his little pet has changed. _He has stopped walling himself in because of that idiot girl._ Akito thought, _Well, I'll have to put a stop to that._

"Cut all connection Yuki, or you'll face the consequences of being more than friends." Akito said walking back to his seat, leaving Yuki to stand at the middle of the room deep in his own battle. Akito continued, "Cut all connections, or her memory gets erased. Cut all connections. Or do you want the rest of the zodiac to feel the way that you feel now?" Akito asked evilly. He had dealt with enough pairs of lovers to learn how to hurt them, from the inside. Yuki was no different.

Yuki feared that if he stayed too long, he was going to burst, so he quietly asked, "May I go now?"

Akito smirked at Yuki's trembling figure and said, "Yes."

Yuki walked out of the room. Once he was out of the door, he saw Haru walk towards him with a questioning look. Yuki just shook his head and walked outside.

Haru looked at his older cousin with a frown. Haru never really had to deal with the family head, with the exception of Rin. Akito has to be stopped! But how? Who had the courage to go against him? For now, the only thing anyone could do was hope for the safety of themselves and their family. Haru looked sadly at Yuki's retreating figure and walked solemnly to his room.

Yuki declined Hatori's offer to drive him home. He needed sometime to think over what Akito had said, some time to calm his inner conflict. What was he going to do? He couldn't lose Tohru! He couldn't. His thoughts then wondered to that time when Tohru had helped him in his base, that time when he had talked about being selfish. He was done being selfish. He couldn't be selfish anymore.

Yuki thought to all the time that he had spent with Tohru, her smiling face blinded his sight. How could he let her go? _But I must,_ Yuki admitted bitterly. _I promised that I would stop being selfish. I can't, for my own selfish reasons, hurt the other members._ Akito won both ways, and Yuki lost both ways. If Yuki disobeyed the order, Tohru's memories would be erased and the amount of pain won't only be inflicted upon Yuki, the pain would also be inflicted upon the other members of the zodiac. She had brought sunlight into their lives; Yuki didn't want to be the cause to take their sunlight away. So it was decided, Yuki would cease connection with Tohru. No matter how much pain it would cause him, he couldn't let the zodiac members get hurt again, each already had their inner scars, which Tohru had helped to heal.

Yuki thought to himself, _In a couple of years, she'll probably have married that stupid cat._ Yuki laughed bitterly as a tear ran down his face. Nothing mattered to him anymore. He was going to loose the one source of happiness in his life, but he had no choice. By this time tomorrow, he would be gone from her life.

Akito never expected what Yuki was about to do. He had thought that Yuki was still that cold selfish boy whom he had brought up. But Akito was wrong this time, and his mistake would cost him the rat of the zodiac.

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Chapter five done! I must say, this was one of my most emotional chapters…

Hope you enjoyed it!

Thank you so much to all the reviewers! Your encouragement has made me want to write more and more! Thanks so much for reading )

Not to worry! This is a Yukiru story so Yuki and Tohru will get together eventually. Keep reading!


	6. Without a Trace

I know I know, it seems like this story is going to be Kyoru. But not to worry! This will most definitely be a Yukiru story. I'm just adding to the suspense so that when they do get together…well, we'll see what happened ;-)

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

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Chapter 6 Without a Trace

"Yuki-kun isn't here?" Shigure asked frowning. After Yuki had returned yesterday, he seemed much more secluded. Yuki had barely spoken a word through the whole evening and ignored and avoided everyone, especially Tohru. No he was gone? Shigure had just walked into the kitchen greeted by a frantic Tohru and an empty table.

"Yes!" Tohru practically yelled, "I've check everywhere."

Shigure frowned again. Where was Yuki? The older man wasn't as concerned as Tohru because Yuki had once pulled an escape act, but he had been found the same day. However, now, Shigure was beginning to grow worried. It wasn't like Yuki to run off without warning. He was a reasonable kid; he wouldn't have run off without a reason. Something must have happened at the main house.

"What's this I hear about my little brother?" Ayame walked in hoping to see Yuki. But he only saw two solemn faced people.

"He's gone, without a trace." Shigure answered seeing to how Tohru was on the verge of crying.

Ayame's face dropped. _What?_

Kyo walked in at that moment, and upon seeing the three's sadness, scoffed and said, "What? The rat's gone? I think it's better if he never comes back." But one look at Tohru made him regret what he had said. He then mumbled something about going back to bed and walked upstairs.

Shigure piped up and said, "Well, it won't help if we mope all this time. I'll call Hatori again, maybe Yuki went to the main house." Shigure suggested, the other two occupants of the room wanted to believe that, but they both knew that there would have been no way that Yuki would've went to the main house on his own.

After Shigure came back from the phone, he just shook his head at the two hopeful faces; all three faces were gloomy. Shigure added, "Hari's coming over."

Ayame nodded and Tohru just fidgeted. She started making breakfast, but ended up not turning on the stove, or forgetting to put out the stove. So breakfast was out of the question. Ten minutes after the phone call, Hatori walked in the front door, followed by Momiji, Haru, and Kagura.

Kagura and Momiji rushed to Tohru's side and started helping her with breakfast, while Haru just stood watching the adults, concerned with what happened to Yuki. Ayame looked at Hatori, almost pleading as if the doctor knew where Yuki was but wouldn't tell them, he asked, "You have no idea where he is?"

Hatori shook his head. Haru commented, "Something happened yesterday during his talk with _him_."

The three old adults weren't surprised; rarely did a zodiac member come out unharmed from a talk with the family head. But Yuki was growing stronger; he had survived the other times, what had happened? What had happened that was so serious that made him run away?

Tohru couldn't keep her mind on cooking and Momiji finally coaxed her to rest. She listened in on the conversation and added her thoughts, "He seemed so sad. I've never seen him that sad. But he was also hiding his feelings. He had on that mask which he puts on whenever he was surrounded by his fan club."

Hatori sighed. Akito was known for his ways of torturing a person. He asked, "Is there anyone that he might have gone to?"

Tohru shook her head almost immediately, but it was Haru who answered, "You know that the zodiac members rarely have other companions. Yuki couldn't have gone to someone else."

Hatori nodded, zodiac members relied on the 'inside' of the Sohma family, but Yuki hadn't gone to any of the people that lived 'inside'. Something happened that caused Yuki to run away from them, his only family.

Ayame was getting restless. He worried over his brother like he never had before. "We have to find him!" he yelled. All his happiness was gone this morning; the thoughts of Yuki being alone and possibly injured pained him. It also angered him, what did Akito do this time?

Tohru looked at Ayame, if it were any other time, she would've smiled at Ayame's determination to help Yuki, but now, she didn't think that she would ever smile again. She had thought that she like Yuki, but she was wrong, she didn't just like him, she had fallen in love with him. The saying of how a person never really appreciates another until that person was gone ran through Tohru head. It was true; she never realized her feeling for Yuki until he was gone. More tears spilled down Tohru's eyes as Momiji came up behind her.

Momiji said to Tohru, "Tohru! Don't cry! When you cry, I feel so sad."

Tohru looked at Momiji as a sob caught in her throat. _Crying won't help Yuki_, Tohru scolded herself, _and it'll make everyone else worried even more_. Tohru wiped her tears quickly and nodded, not trusting herself to speak, fearing that she'll break down crying.

Ayame looked at Tohru and scolded Yuki in his head, _Look what you're putting her through!_ But no one answered, Ayame felt like crying himself.

Hatori sighed and looked around the gloomy room, "We'll have to try searching for him. Although, if he decided to run away, I doubt that we'll have a lot of luck trying to find him. Report back in three hours, and if he isn't found by then, I'll ask Akito what happened."

The group nodded and hurried out the door. They didn't know where they were going, or how long it would take them to reach the person that need to find. An hour passed, two hours passed, three hours passed, no Yuki. The group walked sadly back to Shigure's house. Hatori went to the main house to ask Akito.

"What do you want?" Akito asked, annoyed that someone had disturbed him in his tranquility.

"Yuki's gone." Hatori reported. He watched for a change of expression on Akito's face. All he got was anger.

"What? He wasn't supposed to do that!" Akito seethed.

Hatori was confused, so Akito had done something. "What happened?"

"Is that a demand Hatori? How dare you? First Yuki, now you!" Akito sat up and glared at Hatori, a glare that took him back so many years, back to the days when he was with Kana.

Hatori was confused on what had happened; _Yuki defined Akito?_ Akito was now muttering things to himself, his eyes wild in anger, "He wasn't suppose to go away. He was supposed to turn that girl away."

Hatori could only guess 'that girl' was Tohru. So they had a talk about Tohru, was that why Yuki left?

Akito looked at Hatori once more and glared, "Let him go, I want to see how long he lasts" Akito laughed at this.

"We can't let him go!" Hatori almost shouted, "We have to find him." Hatori was surprised at himself, he never expected himself to speak against Akito.

Akito glared even more menacingly and said, "Don't dare disobey me! Yuki obeyed me. Stop searching. I don't care for him anymore. He can go, let see how long he lasts without people to clean up his mess."

Hatori wanted to say something more, but knew that it would get him nowhere, so he bowed and walked out the room. He let out a sigh and set his mind to work. Yuki had defined Akito…something about Tohru…Yuki has ran away because of it…Akito didn't care…he had set the order. Hatori tried to piece together the conversation, but wasn't succeeding. He shook his head, _what will Ayame and Tohru say?_ He drove back to Shigure's house deep in thought.

He told about his conversation to everyone; Tohru was shocked. They had talked about her, and Yuki had run away? What could they have talked about? Ayame was almost in hysterics. He didn't understand, Akito ordered Yuki to go? The house was in chaos.

When nighttime came, when the house had finally calmed down, Tohru found Ayame sitting on the couch in the living room staring into space.

She sat down beside the snake and said, "He will come back. I know he will. He wouldn't leave his family behind."

Ayame looked at the caring girl in front of her and replied, "I just keep thinking that he'll walk through that door at any moment." He shook his head and said somewhat comically, "I'm going to have to scold him when he comes back."

Tohrutried tosmile, but tears gathered up in her eyes again. _Where are you, Yuki?_

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O! Dun, dun, dun…Yuki's gone. Where did he go? Will he ever come back? Find out!

What Akito means by Yuki obeying an order is that he did kind of order Yuki to leave by ordering him to stop seeing Tohru, he just never specified how.

Thank you so much to reviewers! Like I said, it will be a Yukiru, but I'm afraid that I'll have to put in some more non-Yukiru scenes, so please bear with me! Hope you like it! Review please )


	7. I Can't Stay

Thank you so much reviewers!

Ohhhh! Yuki went missing last chapter, Akito has ordered to not search for him, and everyone is extremely worried…what will happen next?

Let's pick up the story around a year and half after Yuki went missing, he went missing in the summer, so we're picking up with the following winter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

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Chapter 7 I Can't Stay

It has been a year and half after the zodiac lost all contact with the rat, Yuki Sohma. Their family head ordered them to stop searching for him, because he didn't matter anymore. But how could they? How could they give up on a member of their own family? A member that mattered so much to them…how could they give him up? So they continued searching, no one dared to take it to the police in fear that Akito might find out. They searched, in private, in secret. The problem was, they didn't have any idea where to begin searching. They had no idea where Yuki had gone.

The Sohma family started with schools, seeing if Yuki had enrolled in any university for his studies. However, some of the much more prestigious schools didn't allow them to search. Nothing came up; they tried hotels, nothing. They wanted to try the airlines, but they couldn't take their search that far, seeing as to how checking the airlines would gain attention, and attention was the last thing that they wanted. What could they do? Week after week, month after month, the searches were always in vain; Yuki couldn't be found.

But they continued, a little a day. But as school started again (Tohru and Kyo got into Tokyo University, where Haru and Momiji graduated to a year later, and Hiro and Kisa went to their old high school), the search was put somewhat on hold, not that they were going anywhere before. They tried to find the rat, but nothing came up. They did not know, that their luck was about to change…

"Ah!" Ayame yelled as he dodged the workmen that were decorating the small enclosed space of the main house (**a/n **ok, I have no idea what it's like inside the main house, but in my story, there's like this yard that all the zodiac members live in during New Year's, including Kyo.) where the zodiac members resided during this time of year.

Ayame walked in to Hatori's room, where Shigure was also, complained, "They really should be more considerate of the people that are walking in the corridors, I got pushed around so often!"

Shigure, who had arrived just earlier with Kyo and Tohru, comforted his best friend. Hatori, who was used to his friends' idiocy, ignored them. He looked around the room and spotted the decorated paper with the cutouts of the different zodiac animals on it. He sighed, which was noticed by the snake and the dog. Their eyes also traveled to the paper, and all three stared at the rat cutout.

"It's been a year and half, hasn't it?" Shigure asked to no one in particular. He was uneasy in bringing up the subject, seeing as to how Ayame always got sad at the mentioning of his brother.

Hatori nodded, which no one could see because they were still staring at the paper. Ayame just sighed and tried to look away, but found himself unable to tear his eyes away from the cutout of his estranged brother's zodiac animal. Ayame shook his head as if to clear out his sadness and jumped up, "Come on, I need some fresh air." He mumbled before walking out. The doctor and the writer followed him.

They were walking along one of the outside corridors when a young man walking through the entrance of the yard caught their sight. This yard, or living space, was reserved for the members of the zodiac only, although, sometimes, members living 'inside' were allowed to enter. As for the people who lived 'outside', they didn't even know that it existed. So the three friends were puzzled to see a young man walk in, they didn't his face, because the corridor faced the side of the young man who walked in. He did look very familiar however. The stranger turned the opposite direction, so now, the three men were looking at his back, his gray hair swaying because of the blowing wind.

Hatori wasn't very patient with members of the 'outside' who had no consideration whatsoever of 'inside' people. He took up his cold demeanor and demanded, "What are you doing here? You aren't allowed."

Shigure looked at the doctor and frowned at the stranger, whom the words seem to have no affect on, he only stopped walking. "Now, now, Tori, he might be lost!" Shigure said, although he wasn't very glad that a stranger was trespassing.

Ayame cared a lot about the sake of keeping the zodiac secret, well, secret. However, since he was in his sad state, he wasn't especially in the mood to be part of this conversation.

The stranger stood as he had before, the sound of a laugh could be just slightly detected, the stranger said, "Same as always, aren't we?" His voice was unmistakable, so familiar, and yet a little different; the stranger turned around and was greeted by three shocked faces. It was…

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**A/N** Oooo…who could it be? MWHAHAHA! Ok, ok, I'll stop being evil and let you read the rest of the story. Although, you probably already know who it is…

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…Yuki!

The three stood shocked, after all their searches throughout the months, after all their attempts to uncover where Yuki was, their result stood right before them, Yuki Sohma. Yuki cocked his head as if examining the three men who stood before him. He smiled a little, somewhat a sad smile. He took in a deep breath and waited for the adults to speak.

Ayame was the first to snap out of his daze, he had wait so long to see his brother, and the rat was finally here! Ayame's cheerful attitude immediately returned, and before Yuki could have time to threaten his brother to back off, Ayame had Yuki locking in a hug. Yuki struggled, but Ayame was strong when it came to brotherly affections, not to say that Yuki would never allow Ayame to hug him again if Ayame let go.

"Get off!" Yuki yelled to his older brother, he would've kicked or thrown, whichever one would've hurt more, Ayame off. But it was New Years, and Yuki thought that it might be unwise to hurt Ayame just before the big banquet.

Shigure burst out laughing at the sight of Yuki struggling against Ayame's bear hug, which looked almost suffocating enough, he joked, "Aya! You've never hugged me like that."

Hatori shook his head at the idiocy of his two best friends. Because Hatori knew how much Ayame had missed his brother, he let Ayame hug Yuki for a little longer before saying to Ayame, "I think you should probably let him go."

Ayame let Yuki go reluctantly, and he came face to face with a scowling man. Yuki had matured some over the year and half that he's been gone; he had grown taller, his height was almost as tall as his brother's. His features were sharpened, making him look more handsome than ever. However, his eyes, they seemed to be more distant, colder.

He asked after glaring at Ayame for one more time, "Is there someplace that we can talk? Privately?"

All three men looked at Yuki and nodded. Hatori led the group to his room and closed the door.

"Do you need to talk to all of us?" Shigure asked, "Because we can just send someone to get Tohru and Kyo from Kazuma's house." (**a/n **Is that right? Is that his name?)

Yuki quickly shook his head as if the last thing he wanted was to talk to them all. He had a puzzled look, _Why was Tohru was here?_

Shigure, as if sensing Yuki's question, supplied the answer, "Well, we couldn't let our beautiful flower all alone on New Year's could we?" Shigure questioned, voice full of laughter.

"He allowed you to?" Yuki asked.

All three men knew whom Yuki was indicating to, but it was Hatori who answered, "Akito…he…his health, has been failing. He won't be coming here to see the banquet this year."

Yuki raised his eyebrows in surprise, not that Akito was ever extremely healthy or anything. At another time, he might have been happy that he wouldn't be seeing Akito, but at the moment, he relented no emotions. He had gone passed showing his emotions, he has locked himself in again, afraid of someone hurting him again. He questioned, "So he doesn't know?"

Ayame looked at his brother uneasily. The Yuki that had left them wasn't this…cold. Yuki had always closed himself off, but when Tohru had come along, Yuki had grown more affectionate, especially towards the girl. But now, it seems as if Yuki was even worse than when he had started, his voice was hard, his words full of iciness.

Shigure said, "No, he doesn't. He told us to take care of the dance and the banquet. We didn't want Tohru to be alone for the holiday. I had to be here, and I didn't trust Kyo and Tohru to be at home along, seeing as to how they are going out now."

Shigure watched a change in expression on Yuki's face; he thought that he detected a flash of hurt behind Yuki's cold eyes, but other than that, nothing. Hatori glared at Shigure, and Shigure responded with an I-had-to-see-how-he-would-respond look. Ayame knew that Yuki loved Tohru, it made the puzzle of why he left even more confusing. The three men were happy for Tohru and Kyo, being able to find happiness in each other. But they always did wonder, how would Yuki act when he came back, if he ever came back. How would the rat feel when he realized that he lost the girl that he loved to his arch-nemesis, the cat?

Yuki didn't realize their faces studying him because he was in chaos inside. _Tohru…Kyo…going out._ Yuki's face remained expressionless, but inside, Yuki wanted to laugh, but he couldn't. It was as he had guessed, the cat and Tohru, going out. Yuki was in turmoil, his heart had been broken once when he saw Kyo kissing Tohru on the forehead on the roof…when he had known that Kyo was taking Tohru to the dance…when he realized that he must leave Tohru…but now, his heart was shattered. He had lost. Tohru was going out with Kyo; he lost all his hope of ever having Tohru loving him. Yuki tried to quiet the chaos inside him, but didn't succeed. He realized the faces of the three men studying him and thought, _I have to act normal! They can't find out why I left._

"Still the same perverted mind I see." Yuki concluded still trying his best to calm himself.

Shigure and Ayame looked at his brother, surprised. Yuki's voice seemed to gain iciness; his demeanor was colder than before. Hatori was the only one who wasn't surprised. _He's trying to hide his feelings. He may be expressionless outside, but inside, he's ready to erupt. He loves her, but he won't let it show because he feels that he has lost. Why did he leave? And is he here to stay?_ Hatori thought, trying once again the fill the puzzle of Yuki's sudden departure. He had tried; they all had tried, since the day he had left.

Ayame voiced Hatori's last question, "Are you staying?"

Yuki looked at his brother, then at the other two occupants of the room, and replied with, "No."

It was a definite reply; one that didn't seem to sound like it could be altered by anything.

Ayame's heart fell. He grew angry, "Why did you bother to come back then?" he almost shouted at Yuki.

Yuki was surprised at his brother's outburst. He shrugged and said, "I'm leaving."

Shigure intercepted, "Did you do that months ago?" he asked, his voice sad.

Yuki sighed and said, "I'm going to travel a bit. I thought it necessary to come and say good-bye," then sensing the angry looks of the snake, "this time."

Ayame's angry face diminished as he said, "Why can't you stay?"

Yuki closed his eyes for a moment, and more a moment, he looked like the Yuki a year and half ago, the Yuki that wasn't so cold. "Because if felt like I was finally free. It felt like I could finally escape." Yuki lied. He wasn't free, how could he be free when the love of his life wasn't by him, wasn't there to give him the smile that he treasured.

Ayame looked at his brother, and said, "You're lying."

As simple as that, Yuki had never expected his brother to uncover his lie, he shook his head, looked at the ground and said, "Yes. A more important reason does bind me."

The three men were confused, but they all knew that Yuki wasn't going to give them any other reply. Hatori then asked, "Where were you?"

Yuki looked up at the doctor and said, "Tokyo University."

Hatori smiled sadly, "One of the many placed that we couldn't search, and you just happen to be there."

Shigure frowned, "You can't have graduated yet…"

Yuki smiled, but didn't seem to have enough effort to keep it up. He replied, "No, I'm taking a program that coexists with my Master's. And summer courses are wonders."

Ayame smiled, the first true genuine smile since he came to the Main House. His brother was smart, and he was proud of him.

Yuki sighed again, and deciding against torturing them further said, "I'll be back, in a year."

The three men perked up at Yuki's response. Ayame was the most glad, he was about to hug Yuki again, but Yuki realized this time and threatened, "Don't you dare! Or else I'll be forced to take drastic measures."

Hatori smiled at Yuki regular attitude. He would be back, so all they had to do would be to wait patiently. He asked, "You sure you don't want to see everyone? Kyo said that he and Tohru would be coming back around now." He finished with a look at the clock.

Yuki's face seems to show fear for a second, which no one understood. He quickly shook his head and said, "No, I have to go. It's best if I don't see them."

"Now?" Ayame said, puzzled, "Surely you're going to stick around for the dance and the banquet. I can't wait to see Hiro." (**a/n** I might be wrong about the years.)

Yuki shook his head again and looked at the ground pensively.

Hatori frowned, it seem almost for a moment that Yuki didn't want to see Tohru, or maybe Tohru with Kyo. It was getting more puzzling by the moment. He asked, "Where are you going on New Years? I don't think that anything's open."

Yuki looked up, "Somewhere, not here." He said and looking away.

The four people sat quietly for a moment. Yuki sighed again and got up, "I have to go. I have a plane to catch."

The three men looked at their younger cousin. He had more goals; he had grown. He knew where he wanted to go. But the only thing that he wanted seems to be out of his reach. They understood that, because no matter how hard Yuki tried to hide it, the three older men realized that since the mention of Tohru, his face was plagued by a hidden sad expression.

Yuki, hearing no response, continued, "I believe that I haven't paid my respects for New Years." He said as he bowed to each of the three men, he then said, "I would appreciate it if Akito didn't know about this. Or anyone else for that matter."

The three men nodded. They understood that Yuki didn't want Akito to know, but why hide it from the rest? The enigma was getting bigger and bigger.

Yuki looked around the room one last time and tried to say something, but his voice wouldn't let him. Good-byes make it so much harder. The last time he left, he hadn't needed to say them. But now, as he was about to leave his family again for the second time…Yuki hadn't expected the lump in his throat.

Hatori looked at Ayame, who had redeemed his sad expression, "He's going to come back."

Yuki nodded and said, "I'm sorry. I really am."

Ayame spoke, "Don't you think that you're being a little selfish? Don't you care how we felt when you left?"

Yuki's eyes flashed in hurt at the word 'selfish', _They don't understand why I left, and I can't tell them._

Hatori, being the observant doctor that he is, realized Yuki's change. _Why does Yuki have to be such a deep enigma?_

Yuki replied with, "I can't stay. I am sorry if you think that I am selfish. But you don't understand why I'm acting selfish. There is a stronger reason than the one that I supplied. A reason that I can't ignore." With that, he walked out the door.

Yuki walked silently down the corridor. When he was before the gate, he reached his hand up to the intricate designs on the door, the fine details that has been put into the carved figures of the twelve zodiac animals that were in a circle, and that cat that was left out of the circle. Yuki looked at these animals, murmured a sorry, and walked out the door.

The three men sat silently. Yuki had walked out…again. But this time, they had the reassurance of him coming back. For now, they could only wait.

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Ok…whew! Chapter seven done!

A note of apology…I really don't know the customs of how the Sohma's spend New Years…so I'm very truly sorry about any mistakes that I've made in writing! Also, I know that some of my characters seem to be out of character and I'm really sorry! I hope that they haven't been altered too much from the manga…so please bear with me! I know that having Yuki going again isn't the best possible idea…but I kind of needed it as a medium for the next chapter (and I didn't know what to write)…because I didn't want Yuki to be gone for too long without contacting the Sohma family…and I needed it to explain some of the later chapters…

A note of thanks…Thanks to all my reviewers! You guys are the best! I'm so happy that you've enjoyed my story and I'll try my best to write happier chapter… Like I said before, it will be a Yukiru. Yuki and Tohru will grasp the idea and they'll be together. Please keep reading & reviewing! Next chapter, Yuki comes back to stay!


	8. Back Home with a New Life

Here's the next chapter…please read & review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

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Chapter 8 Back Home with a New Life

Tohru walked down the stairs and saw that Hatori, Ayame, Shigure were in the kitchen talking. Kyo was by the stove scowling.

Tohru quickly hurried in the room and apologized for waking up late and started making breakfast immediately.

"About time that you woke up." Kyo grumbled since he hasn't had his daily does of milk yet. Kyo and Tohru and broken up a year ago, she felt like a sister to Kyo; or rather, she had someone else in her heart.

"I'm so sorry!" Tohru said again as she flew around the kitchen gathering the necessary ingredients for breakfast.

"Now, now Kyonkichi, is that anyway to treat our wonderful Tohru? She deserves to rest. It is winter break you know." Ayame scolded Kyo, before adding, "I would like my eggs scrambled please."

Kyo fumed, and smacked the snake on the head; he then walked out of the room, probably up to the roof.

Ayame was rubbing his head while Shigure comforted him. Hatori sighed. Tohru was curious why the three men were gathered up in the kitchen, so she asked, "Is everything alright?" Tohru then realized that she was prying and said, "Ah! I'm sorry! It was rude of me to pry into other people's business, please forgive me!" she said quickly and then bowed.

Shigure replied, "Don't worry Tohru. We're happy to tell you. We have a meeting with the new president of the Sohma Corporation today."

"Oh!" Tohru exclaimed, she was still confused, so asked, "But…why would you need a meeting with the head of Sohma Corporations? Don't you own the company?"

Hatori replied, since he was the only one who actually knew about all the business information, "We do, but the Sohma Corporation was set up independently. We don't even know who the president is. All we know is that it's been flourishing. We don't especially care about other people's business, but we really don't have any idea who is behind this Sohma Corporation."

Tohru frowned and asked again, "But wouldn't a new company require your stamp of acceptance?"

Hatori answered, "Yes. They would. And we allowed them to set up the company. The only thing is, this company has been growing fast, yet we've never even been inside the main building. We've never seen the president; all we've seen were figures, stock numbers, profits, and spendings. We don't want the company to get out of control and tarnish the Sohma name, so we're trying to set up an negotiation."

Ayame said, "I don't understand why we have to sit through an entire morning talking about…such boring stuff! And we're going to be late to Tohru's party!"

Tohru looked at the older man and immediately said, "Oh! Don't worry about that! If you want, we could always get together another day. I wouldn't want to diverse your attention from what's most important." Tohru had the idea of all the members of the zodiac getting together, since they rarely had the chance because of school, work, etc.

Shigure piped in, "No, no my dear flower! We shall go no matter what!" he said dramatically and continued a little more seriously, "We were just planning to make the company change its name if it went out of control."

Tohru stood thoughtfully for a moment. It was amazing how the Sohma family conducted themselves. Tohru didn't think herself to ever able to be like the Sohma family. They cared for others, and their thoughts were never tangled with money. Tohru looked to them as idols. So she always tried to help out, never realizing that her presence comforted so many.

Tohru then suddenly realized that there was still a breakfast to make, so she screamed an 'Oh!', which caused the three members of the table to jump, and she hurried back to the stove. Shigure and Ayame smiled at the girl's actions before going back to talk with Hatori about the meeting.

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Ayame suddenly asked, "This president, whoever he is, hasn't he only been working for a month?"

Hatori replied, "If you had listened, you would've known that he got sponsors during his trip in America. He started the company there, or at least the connections. But it wasn't until he came back that he had full control of the company."

Shigure asked, "But he isn't the only owner. Right?"

Hatori answered, "No, I don't think so. Each floor of his building is a different unit. They each specialize in a different area. He has appointed different co-presidents in the different floors."

"Splitting up the power among individuals. All he needs now is balance between the different individuals, making sure that no one was too strong and no one is too weak. Like making clothes, making sure that the colors balance so that the piece of clothing will seem favorable to the wearer." Ayame commented in his unusually phases of seriousness.

"Splitting up power, isn't that what we're doing?" Shigure asked.

"Maybe if Akito had done that, he wouldn't have left." Hatori said solemnly.

"It's been a year since we last saw him right?" Shigure asked, knowing that it was true.

"Didn't he say that he'd be back in a year?" Ayame asked hopefully.

Hatori replied, "He's not a young boy anymore Ayame, we can't make Yuki's decisions for him."

Hatori nodded as Ayame returned to his usual attitude and began joking with Shigure. Hatori annoyed the two and focused on driving.

When the got out of the car, and walked into the entrance, Ayame and Shigure gaped at the building, or buildings in front of them. They had entered on what looked like a tip of a huge triangle. It was like an apartment complex, three building standing in a triangle. "The idea of unity and togetherness," commented Shigure. All three were surprised at the president's air. The structure of the buildings and the way they stood seems inviting and peaceful. The triangular yard formed by the buildings was big and natural. The flowers and trees seem to fit in perfectly with the surroundings. The buildings had different amount of floors.

The three adults walked into the tallest one, which faced the entrance of the yard. They took the elevator and quickly got to the floor that they needed. They exited the elevator and looked around the huge room. It seemed as if the whole floor was dedicated to the presidents. They stood in a massive room that was circular. It had doors along the walls, which the three men guess to be rooms reserved for meetings and offices, etc. There was a desk besides each door that had high tech computers and a phone. At each desk, sat a person who Hatori, Ayame, and Shigure guessed were secretaries. The three gazed in awe. They walked to the secretary's desk that was besides a mahogany door, which was opposite the elevator door.

Hatori said, "We're here for a meeting with the president." It sounded odd for some reason, because they still didn't know the president's name.

The secretary cocked his head and looked at a planner that was besides the phone, he asked, "Are you Hatori, Ayame, and Shigure Sohma? The head of the Sohma family?"

Hatori answered with a quick nod and the secretary smiled, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I've always wanted to meet my family heads."

Shigure was surprised, was this also a Sohma? One look at the nameplate on the man's desk answered him.

"I'm a little far out in the family. It's such a huge family, I doubt that anyone would be able to list all the members." The secretary continued on.

Ayame nodded and humored the man with a smile. He asked, "I'm sorry, but we have another meeting to go to after this one."

The secretary immediately smiled again and apologized, "I'm sorry. Here I am, blabbering away in front of the most important members of the family. Although, my boss might be pretty important too." The secretary looked at the three men and apologized again before pressing a button on the phone and saying, "Excuse me, Sohma-kun, but the heads of the Sohma family is here. Should I send them in?"

The three listened; there was an audible sharp intake of breath from the other side. _Did the president not want to see them?_ Then the president spoke, "Send them in." The voice was barely audible; there was something familiar with that voice. They've heard it before, all three adults.

The secretary smiled, said a "yes sir" and led the three Sohmas to the big mahogany door. Before he opened the door though, Hatori asked, "I'm sorry, but what is his name?"

The secretary's smile dropped and he frowned, "You don't know his name?"

"That's what he just asked for isn't it?" Shigure replied, he was getting tired of the suspense.

"But…the company's soaring. He's been in numerous papers under the business section." The secretary was incredulous.

"We've been busy." Ayame replied, truth was, he didn't have any interest in the business section in any newspaper.

"I apologize. It wasn't my place to question the heads of the family." The secretary smiled again and said as he opened the door, "His name is Yuki, Yuki Sohma."

Ayame and Shigure gasped as Hatori stood looking bewildered at the young man behind the door. He was sitting at a mahogany desk looking at the computer. His room had been decorated with the red paper along the ceiling. The red paper has been cut into the zodiac animals; these animals ran around the room. The room also had other features; a sofa with two big chairs surrounding a glass coffee table, a closet that stood at one end of the room, etc. Behind the young man with gray hair, there was also a balcony, which overlooked what looked like an amazing view. The president's eye lifted up and looked at the three men that had entered his office. He looked at his secretary and said, "You may go back to work. It is best that we are not disturbed."

The secretary nodded and left the room and closed the door. The room seemed to be filled with tension and no one dared to speak a word.

Hatori was the first one to speak, he said, "Surprised us once again."

Yuki smiled, "I'll never be prepared enough to know what to say to a person that a barely had contact with for the past two and a half years."

Ayame looked at his younger brother and smiled, "You came back."

Yuki shifted his gaze to his older brother and said, "I said I would didn't I? Although…this does surprise me. Why are you three-"

"The heads of the Sohma family?" Shigure finished, he explained, "Akito's changed. He's become more carefree."

Yuki raised his eyebrows. Sensing that Yuki didn't understand, Hatori continued the explanation, "He's fallen in love, or at least he understands now what it's like to be in love."

Yuki seem to stare into space, he didn't understand still, "Really? Who?"

"Saki Hanajima." Ayame answered.

Yuki thought to the dark haired girl who he went to high school with. The girl who always wore black and could sense waves, the girl who was _her_ best friend. _Creepy and scary, seems like a perfect match._ Yuki thought.

"That still doesn't explain you three being the heads of the Sohma family." Yuki said.

"Akito said that he wanted to pass the power to us. He said that h takes back all his threats, to the members of the zodiac, every member." Ayame said examining his brother to see if there would be a change in his reaction.

Yuki knew that they were studying him yet again, but he wasn't going to show the excitement that he felt inside, "Guess that stupid cat can finally be part of the family."

Shigure smiled, "Yes. Kagura was especially glad."

Yuki raised his eyebrows again, "Was she?"

"Yes. Now they can go out without Akito bothering them." Ayame said smiling.

Yuki frowned again, _Kagura going out with Kyo?_ "I see that cat has finally decided to stop tormenting Kagura." Yuki said.

"More like, Kyo has let Kagura stop torturing him." Shigure said smiling.

Yuki smiled, a picture of Kyo being tormented by Kagura flashed in his head. Kagura had a violent temper, but she loved Kyo and that was what mattered. After two and a half years of closing himself off to love, Yuki could only feel happy for others. His heart still ached at the thought of Tohru, but he didn't know if he had the strength to allow himself to be vulnerable again.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Kureno came in holding a packet, "Hey Yuki, thought you should know that your line is broken." He then looked at the three men who were sitting and looked embarrassed, "Um…should I not have barged in here?"

"Kureno?" Shigure asked as if not sure of his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Ayame asked.

"I…um…work here." Kureno answered looking at Yuki for help.

"For how long?" Shigure asked.

"A week." Kureno answered.

"And you've never told us that Yuki was here?" Ayame asked.

"Um…you see…well, that is…" Kureno was cut off because another person strode in the door.

Ritsu looked around the room and began apologizing, "AH! I'M SORRY YUKI! I didn't know that you had guests!" then upon closer inspection, he continued, "Ah! I'm so sorry! I didn't know that the heads of the family were here! I'm so sorry for being disrespect-" he was cut off as he fainted to the floor because of Shigure's famous punch to the side for 'justice'.

"Ritsu and Kureno?" Ayame asked turning to his brother.

Yuki shrugged. He got up and walked to the door, after closing it, he motioned Kureno and Ritsu (who had gotten up) to sit. He said, "You two might was well stay."

They talked for about five minutes on business, since there weren't really anything to talk about because Yuki had the same concerns as Hatori.

"I suppose this meeting wasn't really necessary. You could've just come home and told us that you were the president." Shigure complained.

Yuki smiled a little and shrugged, he had wanted to go home, but going home meant seeing her, and becoming vulnerable again.

"We should go. We'll be early for Tohru's party." Ayame said looking at his brother.

_Tohru…_Yuki controlled himself and showed no expressions. But his thoughts wandered back to the time that he's spent with her. He was snapped out of his daydream by Ritsu's excessive apologies. "NO! I'm so sorry that's I almost forgot about Tohru's party! I'm so sorry!" Ritsu's yells deserved another punch in the side, which Shigure happily gave.

Kureno shook his head and looked at Yuki asking, "Are you coming too?"

The three older men looked at Yuki also, he didn't know what to say. Ayame smiled brightly and said, "Of course he's coming. Otherwise, he'll miss his older brother too much!" Ayame said walking to give Yuki a hug, which he replied with a smack on Ayame's head.

"I don't think that's the reason." Kureno said laughing at the sight.

"Let's go." Hatori said after Ritsu woke up.

Yuki nodded. He was going to see her again…what will she be like? He had changed over these two and a half years since he left the Sohmas…has she changed too?

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Chapter eight finished!

Once again…I would like to thank my reviewers! Thanks so much!

Oh lala…Yuki's going to see Tohru again…what's going to happen? Please read and find out! I'm going to try to finish this story with fifteen or less chapters…but I'm not sure…should I start another story? Review please!


	9. It wasn't Home

My reviewers are the best! Thanks so much for reviewing and reading my story! It makes me so happy! This story is for all you guys!

Here's the next chapter…hope you enjoy it ;-)

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Chapter 9 It wasn't Home

Hatori, Ayame, and Shigure tried o engage Yuki to talk in the car. They started with questioning Kureno and Ritsu.

"So you guys have been working for Yuki for a whole week, yet we've never even about it?" Ayame asked accusingly. In truth he was ecstatic to see his younger brother, Yuki had left for too long.

"Um…you see-" Kureno started, but was cut off by Ritsu, who yelled, "I'M SORRY! I'm so sorry that I didn't tell-" but he was cut off too, by Shigure taking out his fist.

"It's for liability reasons. There are many presidents of this company. I didn't see the need for them to have one that was superior to all." Yuki replied.

"But you did start the company." Kureno said, earning him a glare from Yuki.

Yuki hadn't wanted this knowledge to be public.

"You started Sohma Corporations?" Shigure asked.

Yuki shrugged and looked out the window. Ayame looked at his brother bewildered. His brother certainly was an enigma, an enigma of so many levels. He asked, "How is that possible? You were in school."

"I skipped a grade in college, so I graduated early. I told you that I was traveling, which I did, while earning my masters. I met a lot of people during my travels, and they seem to be interested to sponsor Sohma Corporations, so the company had enough to start off, and it built up." Yuki explained still looking out the window, avoiding the amazed gaze of Ayame and Shigure. Hatori was impressed too; Yuki had gone a long way from the sickly little boy who trembled at the name Akito. _But what was the price?_ Hatori thought. Yuki seem to be even more distant and cold than his visit last year. Has all these negotiations and high society turned Yuki into a cold and unfeeling man?

Yuki was proud of his work, how far he had come since first leaving the Sohma family, but his life has always been missing that piece of sunshine that could only be fill by _her_.

"We're here." Hatori announced. Kureno looked out the window and saw a simple yet elegant restaurant. _So like her_, Yuki thought once his gaze fell on the restaurant. They went in, got their private pre-reserved room, and ordered tea. The members of the zodiac started to turn up a moment later.

There was certainly a moment of absolute silence, where the sounds of the people outside the room were defining even though the room was sound proof. Haru and Rin were the first to enter the room.

"Whoa Haru, you actually managed to find the right room." Rin said looking at her older cousins, then her gaze fell on Yuki and she gasped.

Haru turned to where her girlfriend was looking and his eyes slightly widened, "Whoa! A guy that looks just like Yuki! A mystery…"

"It is Yuki." Shigure answered trying not to laugh at the cow and horse's reactions, it was truly a sight.

Momiji ran in next, and upon seeing Yuki, screeched into a halt and shouted, "Yuki!"

"Hi, Momiji." Yuki replied.

"You're back! Oh! I've got to go and get Tohru!" Momiji yelled running out of the room again. Even in the two and a half years, he was still the hyper bunny that he once was. Although, he was considered much more of a bachelor now.

"Shut up, you hyper rabbit. What are you yelling about?" Kyo's voice traveled through the door. A second later, he walked in, followed by Kagura, and spotted Yuki. He opened his mouth and gaped, his arch-nemesis, sitting there, sipping tea, and focusing his attention on the table.

Truth was, Yuki was trying to calm his inner turmoil at the mention of Tohru. _What am I suppose to say?_ No matter how many negotiations that Yuki has done in the past for the sake of his new company, he felt like he would never be prepared enough to talk with the brown haired girl, whom walked in at that second, with Kisa, Hiro, and Momiji.

They were complete, the thirteen cursed members and the girl who brought laughter into their frozen hearts. There was a minute of silence in which the room was filled with numerous expressions, mostly surprise. Kureno and Ritsu were the least affected, since they had already been working with Yuki for a week, Kureno was slightly grinning at the expressions of his fellow family members and friend, while Ritsu was looking around frantically trying to contain his apologies, he didn't feel right to burst the bubble of silence that had fallen upon the room since Tohru walked in.

Haru was gazing in awe at one of his best friends; he was slightly out of his usual monotone expression and had a look of surprise on his face, which lasted for a few moments before the look switched to happiness in seeing his cousin again. Rin was looking at her cousin with scrutinizing eyes; she didn't really know what to do about the situation.

Kyo looked at Yuki, first his face showed absolute surprise, then he seem to study Yuki for a moment, then his face was in anger, much like how he used to look before starting a fight with the rat. His girlfriend, Kagura, who laid a hand on his arm, calmed him. Kagura had a look of surprise in her eyes; her eyes began to gleam like they usually did before she began to beat someone up out of happiness, a beating that has been experienced by Kyo numerous times. This case, however, was because of the happiness of seeing her younger cousin again.

Hiro had a smirk on his sarcastic face and a look of surprise? The look stayed only for a second and his face was immediately masked with the non-caring expression again. Kisa, on the other hand, had a look of complete shock and happiness. She stood looking unbelieving her older cousin sitting there. Momiji was happily bouncing around and smiling, his eyes also showed immense bewilderment. His attention, however, bounced back and forth between Tohru and Yuki.

Tohru was the one that had the most expressions on her face. She showed, surprise, happiness, a little sadness, and more surprise. Tears had gathered in her eyes as the minute prolonged and she looked directly at Yuki. Yuki, feeling the stares on him, gave up his attention on the table and looked up, to gaze directly into Tohru's eyes. He saw her tears and anger, sadness and happiness battle in his heart. He was angry at himself for allowing Tohru to shed tears, he was sad that he wasn't able to go up and hug her because that would create and uproar among his family, and he was so happy to be able to see Tohru again. Tohru bit her lower lip as Yuki she held eye contact with Yuki. She smiled a little; Yuki was back!

Ayame and Shigure were trying their best to conceal their laughing (which was an useless attempt) at the reactions of their family and Tohru. Shigure held a wide grin on his face as he surveyed the room, while Ayame smiled (so widely that it's a wonder why his cheeks don't hurt) at the exchange of looks between his younger brother and the darling princess.

Hatori looked at Ayame and Shigure's shaking figure from their attempt to hide their laughter and broke the silence, "You two shouldn't be laughing, I believe you had even more amusing looks when you first saw Yuki."

The bubble of silence was broken, and the members of the zodiac and Tohru began to regain the use of their voice cords. Kyo looked at Yuki and said, "What the damn rat doing back?"

Yuki was unaffected and simply said, "Still a stupid cat, I see."

"You want to fight? Because I'll definitely beat you this time!" Kyo yelled. The tension in the room increased.

Tohru looked uneasily between the hot-tempered Kyo and the coolly unaffected Yuki. Kisa wasn't exactly a big fan of fights; she hated them. Momiji was excited and walked between Kyo and Yuki, shouting, "Loser pays for the food!"

Yuki smirked and said, "Have your skills improved stupid cat? I wouldn't want to waste my time."

"I'm going to show you the meaning of skill, you damn rat! And this time, you won't be able to run away." Kyo yelled.

Yuki's eyes grew colder. Kagura sighed and looked to Hatori for help. But it was Ayame who intervened, "Now, now, calm down you two. This is Tohru's party, you wouldn't want to ruin it." Ayame said smiling at the change of expression on his brother's face.

Yuki, who while talking to Kyo help an expression that was below zero, softened his eyes and gazed back to Tohru, who was looking worriedly, and smiled saying, "I'm sorry, To- Honda-san." He finished lamely.

Tohru was sad, but she didn't let it show on her face, Yuki was calling her 'Honda-san' again. They were back to formalities; their once strong bond seems to diminish into thin air. She smiled and said, "It's alright, Sohma-kun."

Yuki slightly raised his eyebrows at Tohru calling him formally again. He sighed and looked away.

Everyone felt uncomfortable in this tension filled room. Haru spoke up in his monotone voice, "Where did Yuki come from? He doesn't look like he got lost. And you three aren't skilled enough to pull a person out of a hat."

Ayame and Shigure stared at Haru for a moment and burst out laughing, Kureno was grinning widely now. "Not everyone is like you, you know." Hiro retorted.

Haru glared at the sheep and the sheep glared back. Kisa looked uneasily between the two and looked to Tohru for support. Hatori spoke up, "I think we should all sit down."

The members of the zodiac and Tohru sat around the table. Because of seating arrangements, there were a whole of argument of whom sitting next to whom. Kyo absolutely refused to sit next to Haru, who didn't care and wanted to sit next to Yuki, but that was impossible since Yuki was sitting next to his older brother (much to his dismay) and Kureno. Kisa and Momiji wanted to sit next to Tohru; Hiro wanted to sit next to Kisa and was glad when he was put between Kisa and Rin. Rin (who had become a very good friend of Tohru's) and Kagura sat down next to their boyfriends whom happily obliged.

So the seating arrangement goes as follows: Yuki, Kureno, Ritsu (who's apologizing to Kureno and Kyo for sitting between them and being a bother, to which, Kyo replied with a thud on Ritsu's head.), Kyo, Kagura, Momiji, Tohru, Kisa, Hiro, Rin, Haru, Shigure, Hatori (who only sat between the snake and the dog after Yuki threatened to leave again), and Ayame. The seating arrangements resulted in Tohru and Yuki sitting directly across each other, so every time they looked up, they were staring at each other, causing Tohru and Yuki to look away immediately.

They ordered, and the food arrived. They ate and talked, and laughed. Hatori explained how they 'found' Yuki, much to everyone's amazement, Tohru's eyes grew starry with admiration as she heard about Yuki starting his own company, Yuki blushed and put on his expressionless mask a moment later.

They talk some more, mostly to catch up on what had been going to since Yuki left. The couples were mentioned, Kyo blushed bright red and Kagura locked him in a breathless hug. Haru and Rin were unaffected. Kisa blushed bright red and Hiro started to change to topic. Hatori frowned as Shigure and Ayame yelled out his attachment to Mayuko, but there was happiness in his eyes. Kureno blushed slightly at the mention of Uo, who was visiting her relative and couldn't make it to the party. Ritsu began frantically yelling at the mention of him and Mit-chan, saying how he wasn't worthy of her. Of course, Akito and Hana were mentioned again, to which the zodiac commented that it was a perfect match, Tohru was grinning happily at the prospect that her friend has found love.

Yuki smiled at each announcement, but Tohru could see a hint of sadness behind his eyes. Yuki did feel sad, but he didn't want to. He wanted to feel happy for his family, he wanted to smile brightly at the thought they've been able to open their hearts to someone, but it only made Yuki think of his own heart, his own heartbreak, _stop being so selfish!_ Yuki scolded himself. However, his smiled faltered when it came to Tohru's turn.

"And of course, my precious flower has found some one!" Shigure cried fake sobbing.

Yuki's attention was immediately caught; he looked at Tohru who was blushing madly and adverting Yuki's gaze.

"It's true!" Shigure wailed, and then turned normal, "I think you know him, Yuki. Kakeru Manabe. Wasn't he on the student council with- OW!" Shigure immediately cried out because of the pain in his foot, curtsey of Hatori and Haru. They both saw the look of hurt and sadness on Yuki's face, which lasted no longer than a few moments.

_He's concealing his feelings again_, Hatori thought sadly.

Yuki calmed himself and repressed the surge of jealousy that he felt, he replied calmly, "Yes, we were on the student council together in High School." Yuki looked at his teacup and drowned the tea. He didn't trust himself to speak. This was it; he lost her.

Ayame looked sadly at his brother, even Kyo didn't say anything rude. Tohru looked at Yuki and was unsure why he looked so sad.

Yuki took in a deep breath as if to calm himself, he smiled, and said, "So, what else has been going on?"

They went back to reminiscing on old times. They talked about everything, Kyo continued in his challenge comments towards Yuki, which Yuki always replied coolly to. They talked, and talked, the topic eventually traveled to Yuki. Yuki talked about his travels, the places and sights that have fascinated his mind. When Ayame asked whether or not Yuki had a girlfriend, Yuki glared at his brother and replied no. Tohru smiled at Yuki's stories, but it was a sad smile, Yuki had such a great time, he would never even consider her now.

"Why did you leave?" Haru asked, cutting his dessert.

Yuki didn't really want to spoil the good mood, he didn't want to fill it with tension again, "Another time, maybe."

Hatori, Ayame, and Shigure knew that Yuki wasn't going to give any more answer than that. Kyo asked, "Why did you come back?"

"Because it wasn't home." Yuki replied.

Everyone around the table smiled and Shigure raised his glass, which stood by the teacup, and said, "To home."

"To home!" Chorused everyone around the table as they clinked their glassed as the middle of the table and drained the contents. Yuki smiled, _he was home!_

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Done! What do you think?

I made a lot of the characters OC because I really didn't know enough about them to know their personality, so I'm very sorry if any of them are extremely not in character. As for the pairings, I'm really sorry if you don't like them, but I thought they were pretty good. As for Tohru and Yuki, they began to open up again to each other in the next chapter. So stay tuned!

Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! Please tell me what you think! I love hearing comments!


	10. Tomomi

Ok, ok. I should probably start writing Yuki and Tohru together, so here goes! Their romance starts in this chapter…enjoy!

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Chapter 10 Tomomi

Yuki was persuaded to go back and live with Shigure again; he didn't entertain his family and friend with where he had been living for the past month, simply saying 'here and there'. Yuki got his room back and looked out into the starry night. He remembered his garden and walked into the forest.

When he got to the clearing, he was surprised to see that his garden was in excellent shape; he smiled as a name flashed across his mind, _Tohru_. He had loved gardening, and wouldn't have minded becoming a botanist; he had tried to create a garden within the yard surrounded by Sohma Corporations, but Yuki had come to realize that he never had time to do the gardening. Besides, he wasn't exactly comfortable gardening in broad daylight with people staring at him. He remembered fondly of the time he had spent here, time with Tohru. He shook his head to relieve himself of the pain, _Tohru_…

"I thought I'd find you here." Tohru said coming behind Yuki.

Yuki turned around and stood face to face with the brunette. He smiled, but Tohru could sense that it was full of sadness.

"Is something wrong?" Tohru asked, eyes full of concern. Her gaze traveled to Yuki's garden and she apologized, "I'm sorry! The plants were wilting and I couldn't just watch, I'm sorry that-" she was cut off by Yuki's thumb on her lips. She gasped slightly and Yuki, who seems to just realize what he was doing, immediately let go.

"I'm sorry." Yuki said avoiding her eyes, "The garden is perfect, I'll never be able to match your ability."

Tohru blushed and said, "Oh, no! I'm sure that you're much better at it than me."

Yuki looked into Tohru's eyes and smiled, "Thank you. You probably had a lot of work for school, yet you still worked on the garden."

"Oh. It was nothing, I tried to do my best, although, it probably wasn't that good. And Tokyo University isn't so challenging before winter break."

"Tokyo University is a fantastic school."

"You went there? How come we never saw each other?"

"I was probably just on a different part of campus, it's very big."

Tohru smiled. Yuki walked up to a log and sat down. Tohru sat down next to him and sensing the sadness that Yuki seemed to emit, she took his hands and held them. Yuki jumped slightly at the gesture, such a familiar gesture, the last time he had been here with Tohru, Tohru had done the same. At that time, his world was full of possibilities. At that time, Yuki, along with the rest of the zodiac, had learned that there was a temporary cure for their curse. At that time, Yuki had felt that he and Tohru could be together. _No, we couldn't. The cat had her, and now Kakeru._ Yuki thought bitterly, his heart had shattered too many times, for so long, no one was able to reach out to him, but now, a simple gesture from Tohru is opening his heart again.

"We missed you." Tohru said looking up into the sky.

Yuki looked at Tohru gazing up at the sky and replied, "Really? I didn't expect that."

Tohru looked into Yuki's eyes and said, "Don't say that. You know very well that we did. You may not believe it, but we love you. We all love you, you have no idea how much sadness consumed us when you left."

"I find that hard to believe." Yuki said acutely.

Tohru's eyes began gathering tears; "Don't close yourself off to your family. They're the ones that'll always be there for you." Tohru said.

Yuki remembered Ayame saying how he'll be there, how everyone will be there for him. Yuki closed his eyes for a moment and looked at Tohru again, realizing that a tear had slid down her delicate face; Yuki immediately took his unoccupied hand and wiped it away. He looked as if he was about to kiss Tohru, and Tohru's heart sped up, but Yuki controlled himself, remembering Tohru's boyfriend. Tohru scolded herself for being disappointed that Yuki didn't kiss her even though she had a boyfriend.

"Thank you, Tohru for everything." Yuki said looking into her eyes.

Tohru smiled as Yuki called her by her first name, and replied, "I'm glad I could help Yuki-kun."

Yuki helped Tohru up and kissed the back of her hand, like a gentleman. Tohru blushed and she held his hand as they walked back to Shigure's house.

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A week later…

It has been a week since Yuki moved into Shigure's house again, and everything has been going normal…however…nothing is every normal in Shigure's house.

Tohru had brought Kakeru back a few times due to a project assigned for over winter break. Yuki had come home one day, and to his horror, found the person who reminded him so much to his older brother. But it was worse than that, because Kakeru now was also Tohru's boyfriend, Yuki found that he could barely stay in the same room as him. It hurt more and more to see Tohru with Kakeru. Yuki was angry with himself, he wanted Tohru to be happy, but he was hurting so much inside.

He began to work more, spending more time at his company, where he met with a surprise visitor today.

"Hey Yuki, you know Tomomi-kun? She's coming today." Kureno said to Yuki, he was just about to leave Yuki's office after the meeting with all the co-presidents in the morning.

"Tomomi-kun? Come here?" Yuki asked raising his eyebrows.

"Yea. I think her father wants to combine to companies." Kureno joked.

"What?" Yuki asked confused, Tomomi's father was a sponsor of Sohma Corporations; he didn't understand Kureno's point.

Kureno smiled and said, "I think her father wants you two to get married so the companies can be merged."

Yuki glared at Kureno and said nothing. Kureno suggested, "Oh yea, Arisa came back yesterday and we were all going out to hang out, you should bring her."

Yuki shrugged and went back to his stack of paperwork; Kureno took the signal and smiling, left the room.

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That afternoon, Kureno, Uo, Haru, Rin, Kyo, Kagura, Kakeru, Tohru, and Momiji were in a warm and cozy diner hanging out. They had planned to see a movie seeing as to how it was winter break. It had taken some time to convince Tohru that she needed some time off from work, she decided to go after much convincing on Uo, Kagura, and Momiji's part. The group had become close friends, with the exception of Kakeru, who didn't really fit in, which was probably why he left early.

They were chatting when Haru looked out the window and spotted the motorcycle on the street. It was a black motorcycle with matching red striped above the back wheel, it looked very pleasing to the eye. (**a/n** I really have no idea about motorcycles, so please bear with me.) The rest of the group followed Haru's gaze and traveled to the motorcycle, they watched it pull into a parking space in front of the diner. They knew that Haru wanted a motorcycle because he was tired of riding a bicycle everywhere. However, they didn't know if they could trust Haru with a motorcycle because he consistently got lost.

"Nice bike." Rin commented.

The two riders got off the motorcycle. The one that was sitting in the back removed her helmet first revealing a very pretty girl. The girl had brown hair with blond highlights and had brown eyes and features that seem to support childlike innocence. The front rider got off the bike and removed his helmet. The group within the diner gasped, it was Yuki. Yuki was looking at the girl that he came with and seem to be rolling his eyes at her. The girl laughed and pointed to the diner. Yuki shrugged and followed.

Tohru was watching the whole scene as her insides turned. The two came inside the diner and Kureno waved them over. Yuki asked the girl something, which she happily nodded to and ran over to their table.

"Hi!" she said enthusiastically, "My name is Tomomi, but most of my friends call me Mimi."

Momiji was ecstatic to make another friend and smiled brightly like a little kid and said, "My name is Momiji."

Tohru smiled and introduced herself. Introductions were made around the table and Yuki and Tomomi sat down. "I met Yuki while he was studying in America. My father sponsors part of the company and we became friends. Yuki's so serious!" Tomomi explained after being asked how she knew Yuki, "I'm moving here for my studies and Yuki's showing me around. I'm starting at Tokyo University after winter break."

"I go there too!" Momiji exclaimed and he and Tomomi launched into conversation.

Haru asked Yuki, "Where did learn to ride a motorcycle?" Yuki didn't seem like a person that would ride a motorcycle, yet his riding skills didn't seem like a first timer.

"In America. It was more of a dare." Yuki responded.

Tomomi, who has been in a very animated discussion with Momiji, turned around and asked Haru, "Oh! Do know how to ride? You can ride it if you want."

Haru raised his eyebrows, Tomomi didn't seem to fit with a motorcycle. Tomomi smiled sheepishly and said, "It's my bike, but I don't know how to ride it. I bought it because it looked so pretty!"

Momiji agreed, "It's very shiny." Kureno laughed and the whole table smiled.

Rin looked at Tomomi and asked, "Are you and Yuki together?

Yuki coughed on the hot chocolate that he was drinking, Tomomi burst out laughing and said, "Goodness, no! Yuki's too boring for me." She joked.

"That damn rat's always boring." Kyo said earning himself a glare from the rat.

"At least I'm not always stupid like someone." Yuki retorted.

Tomomi smiled widely and went back into conversation with Momiji, whom she seem to have a lot in common with, especially the childlike hyper attitude.

The cat and the rat went into a series of banter that was joined in by Haru and was only interrupted by Uo, who shouted, "We get it ok? You don't like each other. Now shut up, I'm getting a headache."

Kureno looked fondly at Uo and asked whether she was ok, to which Uo replied with a blush and a nod. Tohru looked happily at her group of friend and smiled. It was too bad that Hana's family still wasn't back from their winter vacation.

The group of friends talked, eventually joined in by Momiji and Tomomi. They talked about how they used to be; they talked about Tomomi and Yuki's adventures in America. They caught each other up on what was going on in their lives. Yuki talked more about what he's been doing these years, but it seemed like he was only talking to Tohru and vise versa. Tohru and Yuki seemed to drift off into their own conversations, just like Momiji and Tomomi. By the end of the day, they had become closer friends than before. Tomomi was wrapped up in this circle of friendship.

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Chapter ten done! I better put Yuki and Tohru together soon or else I won't be able to finish with fifteen chapters…tell me what you think! Tomomi is OC, I wanted another hyper character to put together with Momiji, sorry if anyone doesn't like the character!

Thanks to my wonderful reviewers! I'll try to finish this story soon and I'm so happy that you like my story! The reviews just makes my day! Please keep on reading and reviewing!

Oh yea…can someone tell me what Shigure's editor's name is? I put her in the last chapter but I don't know if that's her name or not…


	11. I didn't want to be Selfish

I really want to finish the story before school starts NO!

So here's the next chapter…

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Chapter 11 I didn't want to be Selfish

Yuki began once again to spend a lot of time with Tohru. They hanged out with their friends, mainly the group at the diner. New Year's came and went. The celebration the main house was spectacular. Akito had went with Hana on her family vacation so Yuki was so glad that he wouldn't have to deal with he former head of the family. Tohru, Uo, Mii-chan, Mayuko, and Tomomi were invited to the New Year celebration at the Main House; they gazed in awe at the traditional dance and were so full after the banquet. It was Yuki's best New Year's celebration ever, because he was so happy to see Tohru smiling.

But it wasn't the same, and Yuki had a cruel reminder the day after they returned to Shigure's house. Kakeru visited and Yuki just witnessed Kakeru hugging Tohru on the doorsteps. He ran outside trying to force the image out of his head. He kicked the dirt bitterly.

Yuki had enough. He began working more. He worked more and more. At first, he was just arriving home late for dinner, then, he began leaving early for work. Even Kureno and Ritsu, who worked with him, began seeing less and less of him. Yuki began arranging meeting and traveling here and there for a conference for several days. It wasn't long until, his family and Tohru didn't see him for days at a time. Each time he returned, he only stayed one night or a few hours before hopping on a plane and going off to somewhere. But above all, each time he returned, he would make an excuse saying that he was needed and avoided Tohru the best he could.

Hatori, Ayame, and Shigure began to worry that they were going to loose Yuki again. Tohru was frantic about what happened to Yuki, so Hatori finally called Yuki's office, "What do you mean he has meetings scheduled until March?" Yuki's secretary confirmed the report and Hatori ordered, "Schedule a meeting for the Heads of the family again. And stop arranging meeting for him, have someone else more specialized go."

The three head of the family once again, arrived at the triangular yard and walked into Yuki's office. Yuki looked up in surprise, he asked, "What happened?"

"Why have you been going away so much?" Ayame asked his younger brother.

"I've been doing my job." Yuki said, "Unlike certain people." Yuki looked at Shigure who looked innocently around the room.

"I've cancelled your meetings." Hatori said simply.

Yuki stared at him and said, "I see. Why?"

"Because it's like you've left all over again." Ayame answered. His brother had changed; this wasn't Yuki.

"I'm needed. Isn't that what you said you wanted too?" Yuki asked.

"You're lying. For each of those meetings, there were some one more specialized than you that could've gone. You've been escaping again." Ayame said.

"I'm-" Yuki was cut off by a bout of coughing.

Hatori handed him a cup of water and studied Yuki. He put a hand to Yuki's forehead and said, "You have a fever, yet you insist on not going home. Why?"

"Because it hurts of see her." Yuki said as he broke out coughing again. The three older men understood. Yuki still loved Tohru, but he didn't know that Tohru had broken up with Kakeru two months ago. He ahs cut himself off to her because he didn't want to see her. Hatori probably understood the best of all.

"Let's get you home." Shigure said after silence fell in the room.

Yuki coughed and his face was turning pale, Ayame worried over his brother and tried to help. The three men successfully brought Yuki back the Shigure's house and Hatori began his work.

"How long since your last check-up?" Hatori asked.

"A while." Yuki answered with no special voice.

Hatori took out his briefcase and told Ayame to fetch some medicine. When Ayame returned, Hatori ordered Yuki to take the medicine and rest.

"I suggest you take this week off of work." Hatori said.

"But I have a job!" Yuki said.

"And we're ordering you to take the week off." Ayame said, "Don't worry! I'll be over everyday and Gure and I will keep you company."

Yuki looked to Hatori pleading, but the doctor didn't budge, he ushered the two other grown men out of the room and Yuki couldn't do anything but go to sleep.

When Yuki woke up, he stared in the face of the cursed zodiac members and Tohru. He frowned and asked, "What's wrong?" His raspy voice was cured by a tall glass of water.

"What did Akito say to you?" Ayame demanded, anger in his eyes.

Yuki almost choked on his water, "What?"

"You were mumbling things in your sleep. We want to know what happened." Shigure said.

Yuki looked away, he knew that he had a nightmare of his last visit with Akito, but he was mumbling things? He looked up again and saw the concerned face of Tohru; he looked away and started his explanation. He told them Akito's threats. Yuki countered that Akito meant everything he said when Ayame said that they could've found a way around. Yuki finished with, "I didn't want to selfish, like I always was before."

Tohru had tears in her eyes and the other members of the zodiac just stood there looking dumbfounded. Ayame spoke up, "I'm proud of you Yuki."

Yuki looked up and sadly smiled. Hatori looked at his younger cousin and said, "We should probably let you have your rest, we'll talk tomorrow."

The Sohma family piled out of Yuki's room, leaving Tohru, who's tears were trailing down her face, sitting on the edge of Yuki's bed. Yuki wiped away Tohru's tears and brought up her face to face his.

Tohru looked into Yuki's eyes and tears gathered up again. Yuki, on impulse, brought his face forward and gave Tohru a gentle, almost fleeting kiss on the lips. It was short, he pulled back quickly and stared into her eyes, Tohru blushed and smiled a little, she kissed Yuki again to which he happily responded. When they broke the kiss, Yuki hugged Tohru tightly and whispered, "I was so sad and jealous. You have no idea how much I missed you."

Tohru blushed even more and said, "You needn't be anymore, right? I'm right here." She finished and gave Yuki another sweet kiss. Yuki smiled and kissed Tohru's cheek.

They were interrupted, unfortunately, by Shigure yelling, "Tohru! When will we eat?"

Yuki frowned and said, "Maybe I'll bang his teeth out so he can't eat."

Tohru looked frantic and said, "I better start dinner!" She was about to get up, but Yuki captured her in another kiss before she left blushing. She was subject to several questions after she entered the kitchen, most of them asked by Shigure and Ayame. She stuttered before Kagura came to her rescue and banged both Shigure and Ayame on their heads, Hatori muttered an "Idiots' before going to the living room, where the two men with bumps on their heads followed a second later. Ritsu, at that time was in the living room, apologizing to no one in particular about how sorry he was that Yuki was sick, Shigure smacked Ritsu on his side and the monkey quickly sank on the floor.

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Chapter 11 done! And I am finally able to put Yuki and Tohru together! Tell me what you think! Please read and review )


	12. A Smile from Her

Hello everyone! It's sad for me to write this…but every story needs an ending…so here's the ending for this one. I'm so glad that you guys enjoyed this story and I'm sorry if some of you didn't. I hope overall this story wasn't a disappointment because I really enjoyed writing it…now…without further interruptions, the ending to A Smile from Her.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

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Chapter 12 A Smile from Her

Yuki smiled as he saw Tohru's bustling figure in the kitchen preparing breakfast. He had an amazing past month enjoying the feeling of being Tohru's boyfriend; Tohru was a good influence on him, he has even been able to wake up early. Of course, to avoid any perverted comments, curtsey of Ayame and Shigure, Tohru and Yuki had kept their relationship a secret. No one in the family knew.

Yuki had met Akito again, and Akito has expressed that he no longer wished Yuki to keep away from Tohru, of course, being the person that Akito is, an apology was out of the question. Akito has decided to marry Hana, much to the delight of Tohru, Uo, and the rest of the Sohmas.

The other members of the zodiac also were ecstatically and happily living with their loved ones. Hatori and Mayuko got married at a beautiful joint ceremony with Ritsu and Mit-chan that was attended by selected guests. Kyo and Kagura were engaged, Haru and Rin were engaged, and Kureno and Uo are also engaged. Momiji and Tomomi were going out, as were Kisa and Hiro. Shigure and Ayame wondered over the gray haired boy and Tohru. The two older men believed that Yuki and Tohru were going out, but they've never seen any evidence that proves their suspicions. Ayame had even ventured out to ask who Yuki was going out with when his younger brother was preparing for a date, to which Yuki replied with slamming the door on Ayame's face.

Tohru turned around to see Yuki staring at her. She turned her head a little to the side and asked sweetly, "Is something wrong?"

Yuki smiled brightly and said, "Not a thing. Everything's perfect." He then got up and kissed Tohru gently on her lips.

When they broke the kiss, Tohru blushed and smiled sweetly at Yuki. Yuki warmed at the smile, the smile that filled his whole being with sunshine, it was amazing what one smile could do, a smile from her.

Tohru was feeling so happy being in Yuki's arms. She felt so comfortable being with him. She loved talking with Yuki, it felt so right to her. If possible, her smile brightened even more.

Their 'moment' was interrupted by Shigure's yelling from the stairs, "O! Tohru! I smell a delicious breakfast."

Yuki helped Tohru to set the table and Kyo and Shigure walked in. Shigure spent the whole breakfast talking about the joint wedding between the three known couples, which ended in Kyo throwing Shigure out of the house. Shigure came back in crying over his destroyed door and aching back, or in other words, the usually morning ritual of Kyo-throwing-Shigure-and-Shigure-complaining-and-Yuki-annoyed-at-the-noise-level-and-Tohru-making-sure-that-everyone-was-alright.

Yuki was staring off into space at his desk, causing Kureno to yell, "Oi! Yuki! Snap out of it!"

"What?" Yuki said snapping out of his daydream, "What's wrong?"

"You've been daydreaming again." Kureno said, "Shouldn't you pay a little more attention to your company?" Kureno said knowing very well that Sohma Corporations was at the top in the stocks.

It was true; Sohma Corporations have risen to the top in the few months since Yuki discovered it. One of the newspapers have hypothesized Sohma Corporations is going to become the biggest company someday. It had a great organization method and Yuki was always at the top of his game. The company produced and specialized in a variety of products and areas.

Yuki shook his head to clear it and said, "Shouldn't you be in the law office?"

Kureno, who was the president of the law firm, replied, "I was just leaving."

Uo then walked in the door. "There you are! You're secretary said that you would probably be here. He's pretty informative if you threaten him with a lead pipe, or a fist." Uo said casually.

Yuki looked at Uo raising an eyebrow, he had always been a little cautious of Tohru's best ex-gang member friend.

"Oh, hey Prince." Uo said noticing Yuki sitting at his desk.

Yuki replied 'Hi' and Kureno asked, "Um, Arisa, I'm really sorry, but I just received a very important report and can't go today."

Arisa and Kureno were going to go to Ayame's shop today and fit for wedding clothes, along with the other two engaged couples, and Momiji and Tomomi who decided to go along for fun. Uo was disappointed, but she smiled and said, "Oh, it's no problem, I'll be everyone else anyways."

Kureno was upset with himself for not being able to go with Uo, and apologized again, "I'm really sorry." Uo shrugged and smiled.

Yuki intervened, "I don't' see why you can't go. Although I don't' understand why you want to spend time with my brother. Go ahead."

Kureno looked at his younger cousin, Yuki had become much less cold since the time he told everyone why he left. It was like he was a new person, one that smiled much more often.

"Can he go?" Momiji looked in from Yuki's door, following him, Kyo, Kagura, Haru, Rin, Tomomi, and Tohru.

"I didn't know you were holding a party boss." Yuki secretary said through the door.

Yuki looked at everyone and smiled, although more to Tohru than anyone else, "Yes, he can go."

"Are you coming too Yuki?" Tomomi asked besides Momiji.

"And spend a whole afternoon with nii-san?" Yuki joked.

Tohru smiled, Yuki's bond with Ayame has improved, although Yuki would never admit that, and there were instances where Yuki still threw Ayame out of the room whenever Ayame got too annoying, which seemed to be all the time to Yuki

"Come come! You'll get so boring if you spend the whole time in an office, and no girls will ever like you." Tomomi said to emphasize her point.

Yuki smiled and said, "Really? That seems like a refreshing thought." He looked intently at Tohru who blushed and smiled warmly.

"Just come." Tomomi said. Yuki shrugged and followed the group out. He called a company car and they rode to Ayame's shop.

They were greeted with the longhaired man and his assistant, Mine. Ayame was absolutely ecstatic that his brother had come and immediately got a bump on his head. He then whizzed off to take measurements while the group walked around the store choosing colors and designs, much to the boys' distain.

Yuki was walking around with Tohru when she spotted a beautiful wedding dress on display, she said, "This must be the one that Ayame was saying that he finished."

Yuki looked over and saw the dress, he cocked his head and turning to look at Tohru, "Do you want to try it on?"

Tohru blushed and quickly said, "Oh no! I couldn't! It's too beautiful."

Yuki looked at his girlfriend, smiling, he bent down and captured Tohru with a kiss. Tohru was surprised, but happily responded. When they broke apart, they rejoined the group who were now under the torture of Ayame and his plans for the dresses.

When they were finally done with the wedding clothes', they reminded Ayame of the gathering at Shigure's that night, and walked towards the writer's house. The Sohmas and Tohru had decided to hold another get together, to celebrate the engagement of the three couples.

Tohru had a lot of work to do, and with the help of Kagura, Uo, Rin, and Tomomi (although she played most of the time), the food was ready by evening. Tohru realized that Yuki was missing and walked out to his secret base to find him staring at the stars. She walked up to him and smiled, "Beautiful, aren't they?"

Yuki looked at Tohru and slid his arm around her waist and hugged her tight. They never really understood why Yuki could hug Tohru without transforming; the same went with Momiji, Kureno, Ritsu, Ayame, and Hatori. Akito was probably the only one that could explain it, but he decided to not say anything. They had stopped drinking the tea ages ago, the elder Sohma's figured that it had something to do with soul mates and stuff, but they weren't sure.

Tohru smiled and continued to stare at the stars and pointed to the moon, "Mom always said that, when you stare at the moon, you know that you're never alone, because the person that you love, will be staring at the same one."

Yuki smiled and looked at Tohru, Tohru felt his gaze and smiled back. Yuki took a step back; he held Tohru's hands and kissed the backs of her hands. He then knelt down on the soft spring grass and stared deeply into Tohru's eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet box.

Tohru took in a sharp breath and held it. She couldn't believe it; she didn't think that she was ever this happy.

Yuki smiled and said, "Since the first that you came to live with us, you've helped us open our hearts to the world. You've showered us with your love and wisdom. I didn't think that I would ever be able to open my heart, but I did. You once said that the world is full of possibilities, and I felt that world opening up to me when you enter my life." Yuki stopped here and realized that tears were gathering in Tohru's eyes, he continued, "I thought that I was going to lose you, and it tormented me. So I'm asking you, will you marry me?" Yuki asked opening the box reveling a magnificent ring; it was a pink diamond ring, simple, yet elegant, _just like her_, were Yuki's exact thoughts when he had picked it up.

Tohru smiled brightly and it lit up her whole face. A tear strode down her cheek, she immediately, "Yes! Of course Yuki."

Yuki smiled even more widely. He slid the ring onto Tohru's slim finger and got up. He kissed Tohru passionately on her lips and said after they broke apart, "I love you, Tohru."

"I love you too, Yuki. I always did." Tohru replied staring into his eyes.

"Me too, Tohru. Me too." Yuki said hugging Tohru close.

They stood like that for a moment before realizing that there were still the other members of the Sohma family who were probably waiting for them to start dinner. The walked back hand in hand, both of them felt like their hearts were about to burst with happiness.

They entered Shigure's house, filled with even more noise than usual, not that Tohru and Yuki especially cared since their hearts were so full of happiness. Soon, everyone sat around the round table (each person sitting next to their loved one) and started dinner. They talked like they did when Yuki walked back into their lives, each of them were so happy and grateful that they had their loved ones around them.

They talked about what was going on in each of their lives. Kyo was going to inherit Kazuma's dojo, Tohru was training to be a counselor at a school (**a/n** Sorry if you dislike Tohru's job, but I thought that she'd be great as a counselor since she so helpful to everyone), Kisa said that she wanted to be a teacher, etc.

When the question came to Yuki, Yuki said, "I'm engaged."

There was a moment of silence around the table (it seems like Yuki's able to create a lot of those), everyone stared at the gray-haired boy who seem to think that it was the most casual thing in the world. Yuki was smiling and took a sip of his tea.

"T…to...who?" Ayame asked stuttering.

"To the love of my life." Yuki replied smiling even more brightly. Tohru blushed, not that anyone noticed, since all of them were staring at Yuki.

"Who might that be?" Ayame asked, shocked.

"Tohru." Yuki replied looking at Tohru lovingly, everyone around the table gaped except Haru and Rin. Yuki looked at their expressions and said, "I believe you all know her."

Haru smiled along with Rin and said, "About time."

Everyone else slowly came out of their shocked states and congratulated the couple. Ayame was pretending to scold Yuki and from keeping the secret from them and then went into an array of things talking about their wedding clothes and how they'll have to go to his shop the next day, and how he always knew that they were the perfect match and etc.

Yuki and Tohru were forced to bear with all the attention, but they really mind because they were so happy to be together.

Shigure lifted his glass and cleared his throat, after everyone quieted down, he said, "I have a toast, to all the loving couples around the table (at this, all the couples looked at each other). We've come through, we're happy, and we have our loved ones around us. Let's drink to our happiness."

Everyone smiled brightly and lifted their glass, "To happiness!" They shouted and clinked their glasses at the middle of the table. Yuki squeezed Tohru's hand after everyone drained his or her glass. The smiled at each other lovingly.

The Sohma family and guests talked and laughed into the night.

The End 

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Finished! I can't believe that I've finished the story! I hope that you guys like the last chapter and please review!

I'm kind of sad finishing this story, but not to worry! I think I'll write another one soon…I won't be able to finish that one as quickly as this one since school's starting…but we'll see.

Thank you so much my reviewers! Your comments made me so happy and I hope that you were able to enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed your reviews. Thank you so much! And the suggestion was wonderful, but I wrote this chapter before I could read the reviews, so I'm sorry...I tried to incorporate it a little.

Until next time...Go Yukiru!


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